Buddhist education

This aspect of the programme not only encompasses education in the conventional sense, but also the provision of books and facilities that enable the dissemination of knowledge to people in the community who do not follow formal education or who otherwise have little or no access to Buddhist educational materials. For instance, the programme has disbursed funds to support Buddhist libraries, towards providing essential Buddhist textbooks, to fund education courses and to publish educational materials aimed at the monastic community.

Broadening education for Buddhist monks at Pethub Monastery

This Monastery and its school were established in Ulaanbaatar by the late Kushok Bakula Rinpoche during his ten-year tenure as Indian Ambassador to Mongolia in the 1990s. Rinpoche played an important role in the early years of the revival, and Pethub Monastery soon became an important centre of learning for Mongolian Buddhists. Through annual grants, the programme has been supporting the education of students at the Pethub Monastic School since 1995.

The grant provided by Tibet Foundation has enabled the school to develop a curriculum that enables young monks to complete grades four to eight of secondary school education and to receive a recognised certificate of this, as they would in a lay school, while simultaneously studying Buddhism. Once they have completed their secondary education to grade eight standard, they then commence four years of dedicated Buddhist studies.

Tibet Foundation's grant also provides support for a Tibetan Geshe teacher who is responsible for improving and maintaining the standard of Buddhist studies. In 2002 Pethub, which is the only residential Monastery in Mongolia, was voted the most successful in the country.