project summary
Tibetan Medium Schools Support Initiative

project goals & context | project description | activities & achievements

project goals & context

Trace Foundation established the Tibetan Medium Schools Support Initiative (TMSSI), a three-year project, in 2004 to improve the quality of education in selected primary and middle schools in rural Sichuan. In many rural areas, Tibetan-medium schools face significant challenges in infrastructure, teacher training, and mother-tongue education strategies. TMSSI was designed to address the unique challenges faced by these schools through integrated strategies, thereby providing rural Tibetan communities with the essential tools of a basic education.

project goals & context | project description | activities & achievements

project description

In Sichuan Province, nearly 900,000 Tibetans live in remote, rural areas. Most speak only their native language, making Tibetan-medium education a vital building block to their future education and employment opportunities. However, insufficient resources and a lack of adequate teacher training constrain the ability of rural Sichuan’s schools to prepare students to meet these opportunities. In addition, a lack of available research makes it difficult for policy makers to assess mother-tongue education strategies. To address these problems, the TMSSI partners, with a wide range of stakeholders in local educational institutions, seek to improve the access to and quality of education in selected Tibetan-medium primary schools in rural Dzögé County, and middle schools in other areas of the Ngawa prefecture. In particular, the project seeks to:

Improve school facilities and resources;
Improve the quality and effectiveness of Tibetan-medium teaching;
Support Tibetan-medium students pursuing higher education;
Expand educational research.

project goals & context | project description | activities & achievements

activities & achievements

Improving school facilities and resources:

24,000 library books donated: 38 primary schools and 7 middle school libraries augmented their student libraries with new learning resources.
Central heating system established: Students at the Meiqi Primary School in Ngawa Prefecture now have warmer classrooms, creating a more comfortable and effective learning environment.
Tuberculosis screening implemented: All students at Barkham (Ma’erkang) High School were screened for tuberculosis, aiding in efforts to control infectious disease.
Small grants program established: The project established a small grants program to which participating primary and middle schools in Dzögé County can apply to improve health and hygiene conditions and expand library resources. So far 5 schools have improved their facilities through the program.

Improving the quality and effectiveness of Tibetan-medium teaching:
Improving subject-area knowledge:

34 junior middle school teachers improved knowledge in eight subjects: 7 well-qualified junior middle school teachers were placed in four key Tibetan-medium middle schools and trained along with 27 established teachers in physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, Tibetan literature, computer, and politics.
12 senior middle school teachers trained in three subjects: 12 senior middle school teachers from Ngawa/Aba Prefecture improved their knowledge of Tibetan language, math, and computer science through short-term, intensive trainings.
55 teachers expanded curriculum development skills: 55 junior middle school teachers from Ngawa and Kardzé prefectures completed curriculum development training in five subjects.

Improving teaching methodology:

6 primary school instructors became teacher trainers: 6 primary school instructors completed intensive workshops in student-centered teaching methodology and will train other primary school teachers, following a cascading training model.
230 teachers learned new methodology: Through short-term training, 230 teachers at partner schools were introduced to new techniques in student-centered teaching.
New language teaching methodology introduced: With Trace Foundation support, TMSSI partner APESRI organized a series of workshops on Teaching Chinese as Second Language to improve teaching methodology in this area.
122 teachers explored new approaches: TMSSI project partner APESRI introduced 122 teachers to strategies for using a logic-based approach to teaching.

Educating stakeholders:

Analyzing strengths and challenges: A TMSSI workshop brought together participants from all Tibetan medium primary and middle schools in Dzögé County and some from Kakhok (Hongyuan) County middle schools to consider current issues in Tibetan-medium education.

Supporting Tibetan-medium students in pursuing higher education:

823 Tibetan-medium graduates trained for college entrance exams: During each year of the project, TMSSI conducted short-term enrichment classes for recent Tibetan-medium graduates to prepare them for new Tibetan-medium college entrance exams.
- 403 students have passed the exam and have gained admission to higher education institutions.

Supporting educational research, documentation and results dissemination:

Tibetan language primer produced: Lhamu Middle School received a new Tibetan language learning resource through this project component.
83 students competed in essay contest: An essay competition on Tibetan-medium education allowed students to present their own views on their educational system.
Student achievement analyzed: 2 workshops analyzing junior middle school achievement were held covering four prefectures in Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces. Following the success of these workshops, local education bureaus planned a third workshop and are currently planning a fourth.

project goals & context | project description | activities & achievements

project summary Tibetan Medium Schools Support Initiative

project goals & context

project description

activities & achievements

project: quick facts

project summary
Tibetan Medium Schools Support Initiative