You can read the speech that Sogan Rinpoche’s gave at the inauguration
of Kunsel Kyetsal by selecting from the links below:
Speech - Tibetan.pdf    Speech - English.pdf    Speech - Chinese.pdf

In the fall of 2007, the doors of Kunsel Kyetsal opened on the campus of the only Tibetan high school in Golok.  This new three story building houses the school’s first library, and its first science, computer and language laboratories. 

The new facility addresses a key concern of the local Tibetan community: the lack of a quality education for Tibetans, and consequently, limited economic opportunities for its younger generations.  The only Tibetan high school in the region lacked the resources to offer its students a complete curriculum.  Students who held the hope of attending university someday had only a very slim chance of fulfilling their dream.

The few Tibetan families with means send their children to good high schools, but there is a serious cost to that choice.  Such schools are in distant cities, and they are Chinese.  As a result, young Tibetans who want a good education are removed from their communities, their culture, and their language.

The vision for this project was to provide the missing element needed for young Tibetans in Golok to get a good quality education, in a school where they can study in their own language.  In the spring of 2008 the Kunsel Kyetsal project was completed, having been fully equipped with what the school had lacked:  laboratories for biology, chemistry and physics, and two computer laboratories as well as two language laboratories.  The language of instruction is Tibetan, but the students will study also study English and Chinese. 

Our greatest hope is that with these essential resources, more Tibetan students will have the necessary preparation to pass their university entrance exams, obtain skilled employment, and devote their attention, energy and skills to the elevation of their communities.  By building thriving communities, they will also build a firm foundation for the endurance of their culture and traditions long into the future. 

A note on the project name
The provisional name of this project was the Tibetan Institute for Science and Technology.  Upon the inauguration of the building in July 2007, it was bestowed with its official Tibetan name:  bod yig mtho rim slob 'bring kun gsal skyed tshal khan, a beautiful title translating to “Pleasure Garden of Full Knowledge Golok Tibetan High School.” For ease of reference, we now commonly refer to the new facility as Kunsel Kyetsal, a shortened and Anglicized version of the Tibetan name.

Click here to read excerpts of interviews with two Kunsel Kyetsal students

Download The TIST May 2007 e-Brochure (PDF)