Taiwan to send Mandarin teachers to Tibetan schools in India

New Delhi, March 25 (CNA) Taiwan will send Chinese-language teachers to Tibetan schools in India, under an agreement signed Wednesday with a Tibetan higher education institute.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the education division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi and the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education.

Under the MOU, Taiwanese teachers will be placed in Tibetan schools to teach Mandarin, thus creating more opportunities for cultural exchange and mutual understanding, according to TECC head Chen Mu-min (陳牧民), Taiwan's representative to India.

The initiative marks the first formal collaboration in higher education between Taiwan and the Tibetan community in India, Chen told CNA.

Tenzin Pasan, principal of the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education in Bangalore, said the school has been offering Mandarin courses since its establishment in 2008, but they have been mostly taught by Tibetan instructors.

With the establishment of the new partnership, TECC will help to recruit native Chinese-language teachers, thus enhancing the quality of the courses, the principal said.

Jigmey Tsultrim, chief representative of the Central Tibetan Administration's (CTA) settlement in southern India, said the MOU reflects the shared values in education, ideas, and democracy between the two sides and will strengthen bilateral ties.

Culture and education, including language, transcend borders, he said, adding that the new program could help to inspire more Tibetan youth.

Tashi Dickey, secretary of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, said the MOU was a milestone for the Tibetan community in India.

Learning Mandarin expands job opportunities for Tibetan students and can open doors for the wider Tibetan society, enabling them to better express themselves to Chinese-speaking audiences as they confront China and fight for a free Tibet, Dickey said.