Dharamshala, Sept. 21 -- Once packed with students, the falling enrolment in schools in exile is turning out to be a major challenge for the exiled Tibetan community, with no new arrivals from Tibet. In recent years, the influx of Tibetans from Tibet has dwindled drastically, and for the past two years, no new student from Tibet has been admitted to Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) schools. TCV is the largest Tibetan body of schools in exile and has residential schools in different states, including four in Himachal Pradesh. Total student enrolment across Tibetan exile institutions has dropped sharply over the past years. According to TCV officials, the number of students in TCV schools has fallen to around 5,000 at present, compared with around 10,000 in the 2010s. Overall enrolment in Tibetan exile schools has dropped from over 23,000 students in 2012 to roughly 13,000 now, which includes more than 60% Tibetans. The department of education of central tibetan administration (CTA) currently oversees around 60 Tibetan schools in India and Nepal under different autonomous administrative bodies including TCV, Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society, Tibetan Homes Foundation, and Snow Lion Foundation. Strict border controls and security measures by China, especially after 2008 protests, have also stopped the flow of children who once crossed into India to study. The exiled Tibetan government has in recent years been looking at the viability of merging and consolidating the schools in view of the dwindling number of Tibetan students. Tibetan political leader, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, said, "We started discussing this a few years ago with the schools, and the agreement at the time was that the schools would try to integrate (internally by schools). Now, I think we have reached a stage where we have to look at the overall situation." "We will have to look at the reality of new births and assess how things will shape up over the next 10-15 years. We need to see how we can integrate the schools to sustain ourselves because, while the administrative costs remain the same or increase, the number of students declines. This needs to be consolidated," he said, adding that in the future, they will have to consolidate or merge schools as there is no choice. As the number of students go down, TCV has in recent years restructured some of its schools. TCV Suja, located at Bir in Baijnath tehsil, was restructured a few years ago. The 2021-22 academic session was the last batch for Class 12 at TCV Suja, which now caters only up to Class 10. Kalsang Phuntsok, general secretary (external relations), TCV, said, "The Tibetans coming from Tibet have come to a complete halt. There has been a continuous decline in students in recent years. It is a major problem that we have to face. We are consolidating because there is no other way. But we are doing it more strategically and in a phased-manner because there are so many stakeholders." "Depending upon the student trend in the schools, we are working on merging and consolidation. We are restructuring as well, wherever we feel the need. We may have to do it in the coming years as well, depending upon the enrolment trend," said Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director (administration) at Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society. "We analyse the numbers and apprise the matter to the education department and, based on the facts, we take the appropriate decision," he added....