May 23, 2019
Primary and middle school classes to be taught only in Chinese, CCP authorities tell Golok prefecture
Golok Prefecture Education Department Notice.
CCP authorities have ordered primary and middle schools in the Golok Tibet Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province to give lessons in Chinese instead of Tibetan.
The policy will be implemented in Autumn term this year, the announcement from Golok Prefecture Education Department said, adding that the change is aimed at “providing more academic opportunities for the students.”
The move means Tibetan will only be used in Tibetan language classes and not in the main curriculum.
“The county-level Education bureaus should uphold great importance to this work by assisting schools to promote the second teaching model and allocate teachers with strong Chinese proficiency to teach as first grade,” the official notice said.
Tibetans in the area are contesting the order which some see as an attempt to systematically undermine the language in a province which is populated by a Tibetan majority.
Some Tibetan intellectuals in the region have voiced their opposition to the policy in writing including Golog Palgyan who published an essay about the policy on social media.
This “is the wrong model choice of education and it will seriously impact the future of the Tibetans who will inherit the Tibetan culture,” he wrote.
Palgyan requested authorities immediately stop the education policy to allow the revitalisation of minority Tibetan education, the promotion of Tibetan culture and long term happiness of people of Golok.
Authorities tried to introduce a similar policy to part of Qinghai province in 2010, which was halted after protests by school students in Golog, Chabcha, and Rebgong counties.
This time it looks like CCP authorities will be implementing the policy more aggressively, Tibet Watch said.
Tibetans in the area might protest again over fears of a decline of the Tibetan language
