Sulfide and oxysulfide bulk glasses Ga-La-S-O, Ge-Ga-S and Ge-Ga-As-S doped, or co-doped, with various rare-earth (RE³⁺) ions are investigated for their room temperature transmission and lowerature photoluminescence. Photoluminescence spectra are collected by using external excitation into the Urbach tail of the fundamental absorption edge of the host-glass. The lowerature photoluminescence spectra are dominated by the broad-band luminescence of the host glass, with superimposed relatively sharp emission bands due to radiative transitions within 4f shells of RE³⁺ions. In addition, the dips in the host-glass luminescence due to 4f-4f up-transitions of RE³⁺ions are observed in the Ge-Ga-S and Ge-Ga-As-S systems. These superimposed narrow effects provide a direct experimental evidence of energy transfer between the host glass and respective RE³⁺dopants.