Tibetan Children in Exile: Institutions of Child Care

What is it about?

This article explores the vision of the newly elected Tibetan government-in-exile to provide quality child care at the care centers so as to obtain the larger goals of social transformation by taking into account the broader social and cultural context in which the care is provided. The study is based on field observation undertaken in Tibetan settlement in Dharamshala and interviews conducted with Tibetan government officials, child care providers, and community representatives to collect primary data.

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Why is it important?

Child care facilities are important as they facilitate a child to interact meaningfully with his or her peer group and community. This is more important for children who have to accommodate their whole life in exile. With this understanding, the Tibetan community living in exile worked hard to accommodate its children in a formal educational set-up, efforts were taken to set-up care centers and research studies were undertaken to look into the best caring possibilities for the children. This article intends to look into the care facilities available for the Tibetan Children living in Exile and the initiatives taken by the Tibetans government-in-exile for the development of children including the components of nutrition and health, education, training. The key elements of child care which have been evaluated in this study focus on the specific needs of these children and inclusiveness in regard to children with different abilities. The study investigates the child care centers of the Tibetan settlements with reference to the nutritional requirements of children in a safe and hygienic environment, meeting of these requirements through day-care facilities especially in a refugee settlement and the existing healthcare provision in these child care centers and how they are monitored and supervised.

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