Ngawang Choephel Fellowship:
“A Partnership for Arts Education at a Tibetan School”
University of Kansas, Center for East Asian Studies
Professors Eric C. Rath (PI) and Yoonmi Nam (Co-PI)
The Mayul Multi-Disciplinary Technical School is a new vocational school for Tibetans in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Located in one of China’s poorest, least developed provinces it has a 90% Tibetan population. Herding is the chief form of livelihood. Receiving government approval, construction of the privately funded school was completed in 2010. The faculties will eventually serve 600 students.
Tibetans, historically underserved in terms of education have rates of high school graduation of about 2%. Most available education demands Mandarin as the language of instruction. Many educated Tibetans are unable to read their own language. The need for educational opportunities for Tibetans to preserve their native culture and diversify their economy has grown more acute in Golok. One government plan seeks to end Tibetan as the language of instruction in Qinghai-region schools serving Tibetans. Another government scheme gradually removes Tibetan nomads from the rangelands, forcing an end to traditional herding and a move to settlements which lack adequate infrastructure and economic opportunities threatening the Tibetan nomad’s traditional way of life.
The Mayul School aims to sustain Tibetan culture and provide vocational training for the local nomadic population within and beyond Qinghai. For a nominal fee students study math, Tibetan grammar, literature, Chinese language, computer use, and English. Tibetan is used as the language of instruction. Further training programs including Tibetan medicine and machine repair are planned.
With a Ngawang Choephel Fellowship, faculty and graduate from the University of Kansas (KU) are assisting the Mayul School in developing curriculum in the traditional arts as vocational training by initiating a program in traditional Tibetan painting. Painters trained in traditional media can earn a secure source of income in a vocation respected in their communities.
To initiate this program, our grant traveled to the school in the summer of 2009 with a return visit in the summer of 2010 to measure the program’s implementation. Meeting regularly with school faculty we advised on pedagogy, classroom technology and taught English to students and school faculty. Five students from the Mayul School are currently studying at the Applied English Center at the University of Kansas. After completing studies they will return to Golok to become instructors at the Mayul School and work in the local community. Contingent on funding, we plan to develop further linkages by inviting more Tibetan students to study at U.K. and by initiating a program supporting instruction in Tibetan carpet making at the Mayul School helping to preserve the traditional arts of Tibetan weaving and dyeing and serving the local economy by providing finished goods by Tibetan herdsmen. Our grant team intends to apply for a Ngawang Choephel fellowship this year for this project.
Eric C. Rath
University of Kansas
