According to the rights organization freetibet.org, Chinese authorities have declared a ban on Tibetan language instruction in elementary schools in the Kham Kardze area beginning in 2024. Concerns have been expressed about Tibetans’ rights to the preservation of their culture and identity in light of the prohibition, which was issued by the Kanzi Prefecture Bureau of Education in March.
The warning, which was sent to all local schools, stated clearly that recipients were not to distribute or make public the information through social media. The study team cited an unnamed source who said that transgressions of this order would be subject to state-law sanctions.
The choice was made a few months ago, but it has only now been made public. “This notice has been sent to all the schools, and they have been instructed not to share or post it on social media, etc.,” the unnamed source that Tibet Watch quoted said. Anyone who violates this will be penalized in accordance with local laws.
The source further claimed that the Kanzi Prefecture Bureau of Education credited a higher level of education offices with making the decision, but no formal justification for the ban on Tibetan language instruction in middle schools starting the next year has been given.
These moves fit into a troubling pattern in which Chinese authorities are closing Tibetan courses and schools all throughout Tibet. Tibetan youngsters are deprived of a significant component of their cultural legacy and identity when Tibetan language lessons are eliminated from elementary and intermediate schools. The absence of an official justification for this prohibition has observers more concerned than before. It is widely acknowledged that language plays a crucial role in upholding cultural traditions, fostering intergenerational understanding, and maintaining a community’s unique identity.
International human rights organizations and pro-Tibet organizations have voiced grave alarm about the Chinese government’s systematic destruction of Tibetan language instruction. They see this as a danger to the Tibetan people’s cultural and linguistic legacy.
