"Scripture debating" inspires vocational teaching

Sitting cross-legged in the playground of a vocational school, Karma Lonsang quickly answers any questions from those sitting in front of him, as he does everyday in his monastery when debating Buddhist scriptures with fellow monks.
Every question is concluded with a clap of the hands if answered correctly.

Only this time Karma Lonsang is not answering questions about the scriptures, but about Tibetan medicine, such as the number of joints in a human body, as a medicine student of the vocational school in northwest China's Qinghai province.

In other corners of the playground, there are more students sitting in groups or couples, debating in the same way about the Tibetan language, computer science, arts and crafts, or traditional Tibetan architecture.

"Debating is compulsory in our everyday teaching," said Padma Dhondrup, academic affairs director of the vocational school that is located in Ragya Township of Golog Tibetan autonomous prefecture and named after its founder Gyumey Gyaltsen.

Debating, a traditional way of education in Tibetan Buddhism, has been integrated into the school's daily teaching since 1994 when it was founded for dropouts and overage students in Tibetan-inhabited areas, according to Padma Dhondrup, who was also one of the first students.

From Tibetnews