Tibetan Childrens Village shrinks as exile dwindles

In Dharamshala’s Tibetan Children’s Village, songs, operas, and pickup hoops play to thinning classes as enrollment drops to 4,682 out of 8,642 seats. Administrators blame lower birthrates, a shrinking exile community, and China’s tightened border since 2008, while more youths look West for opportunity. Once-crowded boarding houses and teachers raised thousands separated from parents; today first grade counts 12 students compared with 61 in grade 3. With uncertainty over the Dalai Lama’s succession and US aid halted then partially restored, leaders call this a delicate moment, yet repeat a spare mission: to endure until opportunity returns.