Abstract:

   This paper explores the relationship between the experience of forced migration and education for the Tibetan refugees in India. It analyses the diverse schooling options available to the Tibetan youth in India. It explores the role of Tibetan and Indian schools (with differences between and amongst them), the roles of different agencies (Tibetan Government in Exile, Indian Government, Indian private organizations and Tibetan Foundations) who run the schools providing multiple understanding of vision/mission of schooling; with diverse curriculum, pedagogy and heterogeneous experience of schooling in these schools and the impact it has on the Tibetan youth, their future life-chances, their sense of identity, aspirations, nationhood, Tibet in their imagination and their attitude towards the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan struggle. It recognizes the dilemmas that the refugee community grapples with and it’s educational strategies to achieve a balance between reality in exile and a consciously fostered dream of “Free Tibet”. Life is seen as a continuous learning curve for the community which strives to be ‘exclusive’ yet is also trying to prevent its own ‘exclusion’ in a modern, globalized world by straddling the twin (at times divergent) goals of ‘cultural preservation’ and ‘modern, secular education’ in exile.


Brief note on the speaker:

Dr. Mallica Mishra is a Consultant at National Council of Rural Institutes (a Central Government of India organization under MHRD) which seeks to promote education, research and training on community university engagement in higher education institutions in India. Prior to this, she was engaged as Consultant and State Coordinator- Evaluation, Directorate of Evaluation, Department of Planning and Development, Government of Bihar , on behalf of Unicef and IPE Global, to coordinate the evaluation of various social development programs of the Bihar Government. She has taught as Faculty in Development Studies (PGDM-DS) at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gujarat in 2014 and as Assistant Professor (Social Science) in the Department of Elementary Education at Gargi College and Mata Sundri College in Delhi University from 2007-2012. She completed her Ph.D in Sociology of Education at Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; her Masters in Sociology and M.Phil in Sociology of Education also from Jawaharlal Nehru University and graduated in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University. Her publications include a book ‘Tibetan Refugees in India: Education, Culture and Growing up in Exile’ (Orient Blackswan, India (2014). Her research interests include exploration of issues of refugees and forced migration, education, gender and human rights.