Education in India: a comparison

School as a site of Tibetan ethnic identity construction in India: Results from a content analysis of textbooks and Delphi study of teachers' perceptions

Mary Ann Maslak
Educational Review, Volume 60, Issue 1 February 2008 , pages 85 - 106

India

Tibetan is the medium of instruction for all subjects at the primary level. The curriculum guidelines for classes 1-5, developed by the CTSA, provide the structure for courses in social studies, general science, drawing, physical education, value education, music, dance and Tibetan cultural activities. English and Tibetan languages are also taught at the primary level.9 Morning assemblies - a venue for prayers, Tibetan and Hindi community songs, news and Indian and Tibetan National anthem - are held on a daily basis.

At the middle school level (classes 6-8), the Tibetan schools adopt the national Indian system's curriculum that requires basic academic subjects to be taught in English. The only Tibetan curriculum offered at this level is the Tibetan language. The same is the case at the secondary, school level…Classes 9 and 10 offer five subjects, including English, Tibetan, general science, mathematics and social studies (which includes history, geography and civics). Physical education, dance and music are also taught...English is the medium of instruction for class 6 through class 12.

Required CBSE-designed examinations in grades 10 and 12 serve important roles in students' educational futures…Neither examination requires Tibetan; both examinations require English language competency.

Textbook Content Analysis:

“The social science textbook provides the most diverse collection of ethnic terms, proper names and references to those other than Hindus (Figure 3)…there are no references to Tibetan proper names...No translation in other languages is made in the textbook…Pictures representing Hindus at jobs, at school and in the home provide all pictorial references for the textbook's readers.14 Tibetans are neither represented in pictorial or vocabulary terms…Chapters 18 throughout the remainder of the books represent contemporary life in India. One might expect these chapters would be an appropriate place to include references to the relatively new refugee population; however, the same trend follows.”

Author: Mary Ann Maslak a
Affiliation: School of Education, St John's University, Jamaica, NY
DOI: 10.1080/00131910701794671
Published in: Educational Review, Volume 60, Issue 1 February 2008 , pages 85 – 106

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00131911.asp