Secular Moral Ethics in Sikkim
I was invited to Sikkim by the Director of the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology to help follow through on a promise the Chief Minister of Sikkim made to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to implement secular moral ethics into the Sikkimese educational system. The past few days I've spent in this beautiful northeastern state of India have been incredibly interesting. In addition to dialoguing with members of the education sector and working with 39 pre-service Sikkimese school teachers I was able to visit the Rumtek monastery (the seat of the Karmapa) and get a feel for the unique history and culture of Sikkim. Sikkim became a part of India in the mid 1970s and the politics surrounding the inclusion of northeastern states in India are both fascinating and complex. Education reform in this region involves a number of critical issues which include addressing the fact that Sikkim has the highest suicide rate in India. Seventy percent of the state budget goes toward education but the discussions I've had here examined how that money isn't allocated in the most efficient way. Members of the education ministry participated in a presentation I gave on the importance of "teaching for the heart & mind" and we are looking into implementing a mindfulness training pilot program for pre-service teachers.
