India Set To Roll Out School Curriculum For Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries To Shield Them From China's Influence

India is set to introduce its first school curriculum for Buddhist monasteries this month with the aim of countering China's narrative, especially in Himalayan religious institutions, close to the international border, The Hindu reported.

The objective is to standardise educational programs and cultivate a sense of patriotism. Notably, with the influx of Tibetan immigrants since the 1950s, many Buddhist educational institutes have been set up, but no effort was made to shield them from the Chinese influence.

"We are trying to inculcate Indian identity through education along with Buddhism to make sure China can never control our monasteries in the Himalayas," a Buddhist worker of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Maling Gombu said.

"Thousands of children living and studying in remote monasteries deserve education recognised and certified by India," said Gombu, who is part of a team promoting Indian Buddhist traditions and national education in Arunachal Pradesh.

Approximately 600 monasteries, dispersed throughout the northern Indian states of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, as well as the regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, provide instruction in four different Tibetan and Indian Buddhist traditions.

In addition to teaching modern subjects and English, the courses suffer from a lack of uniformity beyond a national education initiative. This initiative strives to create a unified identity amidst India's diverse mosaic of languages and religions.

"The non-religious education taught by monks or nuns is not acknowledged outside monasteries," director of the education ministry's National Institute of Open Schooling, Rajeev Kumar Singh said, highlighting the need for certification.

Singh, having contributed to the development of the new curriculum that concludes a five-year evaluation process, expressed hopes that it would equip Indian and Tibetan students for their academic journey in India.

"They (Tibetans) are free to learn Tibetan history and their tradition, but they should learn about India as they reside here and require proper education to secure jobs outside monasteries," he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

Reuters has examined a government document that reveals that 20 monasteries situated near the 3,000-km border with China have consented to implement the new curriculum. The remaining monasteries are expected to adopt the changes later in the year.

Officials stated that while the authorities are individually negotiating with monasteries to adopt the syllabus, they also require time to produce new textbooks and find teachers to run the schools, particularly in areas with low population density.