Opinion
Education Opinion

The Dalai Lama

September 06, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

“In 1959, when all was lost in Tibet and I had just arrived in India, Prime Minister Nehru assured me that the real way to serve the Tibetan cause was to give our children a proper education. Education is like a universal panacea, which is as appropriate elsewhere today as it was to the Tibetan community then.

See Also

Read an excerpt from “The Overachievers”;
and see what else is

New in Print

Childhood and youth are a time of learning and training in preparation for life ahead. Although human beings are naturally intelligent, when we are young we have some freedom and flexibility of thought and action because we do not have many obligations. However, this natural freedom and intelligence will only become fruitful if they are given proper guidance and encouragement. Education is the foundation of all personal and social improvement and to make it available to others is one of the greatest gifts. To do so is truly to honor children.”

—The Dalai Lama, from his foreword to Child Honoring: How to Turn This World Around, edited by Raffi Cavoukian & Sharna Olfman (Praeger, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, www.greenwood.com; 320 pp., $29.95 hardback).
A version of this article appeared in the September 06, 2006 edition of Education Week as The Dalai Lama

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting the New K-12 Workforce: What Teachers Need to Stay at School
 Join this free virtual event to discover what teachers say they need to feel supported to stay in classrooms for the long haul.
College & Workforce Readiness K-12 Essentials Forum Career and Technical Education Takes Its Next Big Step
Join this free virtual event to hear creative approaches to modernize CTE programs and navigate the shift away from a near-exclusive focus on "college preparedness."

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Opinion The Education Wisdom Our Readers Keep Revisiting: Top 10
These opinion blog posts and essays have made a lasting impression on readers.
1 min read
Trendy halftone collage cutout elements. Laptop, rising arrow chart, gears, handshake, watch, magnifier. Idea, teamwork, brainstorming and success concept Modern retro vector illustration
Cristina Gaidau/iStock
Education Opinion The Opinions EdWeek Readers Care About: The Year’s 10 Most-Read
The opinion content readers visited most in 2025.
2 min read
Collage of the illustrations form the top 4 most read opinion essays of 2025.
Education Week + Getty Images
Education Quiz Did You Follow This Week’s Education News? Take This Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Quiz How Did the SNAP Lapse Affect Schools? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read