Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 and subsequent arrival of thousands of Tibetans as refugees in India, Nepal and Bhutan, one of the most urgent tasks before the Tibetan government in exile was to take care of and provide education to the children; many of whom had lost their parents either due to invasion by the Chinese or died during the flight through the Himalayas. H.H. the Dalai Lama approached the then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to seek his help in giving proper education to the Tibetan children. The Prime Minister established Tibetan Refugee Schools Society, which was later renamed Central Tibetan Schools Administration, to manage and assist schools in India for education of the children of Tibetan refugees. As a result a number of Central schools were started for the education of the Tibetan children. Nursery for Tibetan Refugee Children was started by the elder sister of H.H. the Dalai Lama to take care of orphaned and destitute children. The nursery was later on converted to school and renamed as Tibetan Children?s Village (TCV) to provide education to the children. There are seventeen schools and two vocational training centers run by the TCV. Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussoorie, india and Snowlion Foundation, Kathmandu, Nepal have also been providing education to the Tibetan children, in and around their respective areas. Today most of the Tibetan schools in the Tibetan settlements are functioning under the above four organizations.