Expressing concern over China forcibly enrolling Tibetan children in the colonial-style boarding schools in occupied Tibet, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), based at Dharamshala, has called for immediate intervention to the situation from the international communities.
The CTA said the recent reports from reliable sources in the Ngaba region of Tibet have raised serious concerns about China’s educational policies and practices that are targeted at young Tibetan monks and nuns and pose a threat to the preservation of traditional Tibetan culture, religion, and way of life.
“China’s continuation and strengthening of compulsory and colonial-style boarding schools across Tibet is resulting in cultural erasure and loss of Tibetan identity,” CTA said in a statement.
The Dharamshala-based Tibetan government-in-exile said over 1,700 young monks from Kirti Monastery and two monasteries in Dzoge County, Ngaba, in the traditional province of Amdo now incorporated into Sichuan Province, have been forcibly ordered to leave monastic life and enrolled in government-run colonial-style boarding schools against the wishes and consent of the monks and their parents. This policy is targeted at monks under the age of 18, particularly those between Class 1 and 8.
The statement said these young monks are forcibly enrolled in schools, where they face strong political indoctrination, including mandatory praise of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). “Children in these schools are primarily taught in Mandarin, leading to a loss of Tibetan language skills and cultural identity. They have also been prohibited from visiting their monasteries during school holidays, further severing their ties to Tibetan cultural and spiritual traditions,” CTA said.
{{/usCountry}}The statement said these young monks are forcibly enrolled in schools, where they face strong political indoctrination, including mandatory praise of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). “Children in these schools are primarily taught in Mandarin, leading to a loss of Tibetan language skills and cultural identity. They have also been prohibited from visiting their monasteries during school holidays, further severing their ties to Tibetan cultural and spiritual traditions,” CTA said.
{{/usCountry}}Moreover, local authorities are threatening to revoke public benefits and even imprison parents who resist sending their children to these government-run boarding schools. Restrictions have also been placed on Tibetans building new houses on their land and on nomads from increasing their livestock numbers.
‘Tibetan cultural, religious freedoms are being suppressed’
Considering the deteriorating human rights conditions in Tibet under the draconian rule of the PRC government, Tibetan cultural and religious freedoms are being suppressed at an alarmingly rapid rate. These concerning developments coincide with a recent visit in July by Wang Huning, a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, to the Tibetan areas of Karze, Ngaba and Kyungchu counties, CTA added.
CTA urged for immediate intervention to the situation from the international communities including governments, the United Nations, human rights organisations, educational institutions committed to protecting cultural diversity and religious freedom and promoting human rights and fundamental freedom for all.
They have also called upon the PRC government to uphold their international legal obligations of safeguarding the rights and religious freedom of the Tibetan people and refrain from the assimilation practices being implemented in the Tibetan areas.