Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have attached great importance to the education of ethnic minorities. Especially since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese central government and the governments of ethnic minority autonomous regions have vigorously promoted the construction of educational informatization and the education of ethnic minorities, and the education of ethnic minorities has developed rapidly and made remarkable achievements.

 

The theme of this conference is "Ethnic Minorities' Right to Education in the Course of Modernization". In my opinion, the concept of modernization mainly refers to the overall process of changes in human society toward modern society that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution. Specifically, the modernization of education, it means that education needs to adapt to and conform to the higher standards of talent cultivation in modern society. Educational modernization has put forward higher requirements for the protection of the minority's right to education. In other words, educational modernization requires us to pay attention to the role of emerging technologies in promoting and empowering education.

 

Today, information technology represented by cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence has been widely used in the field of education. It can be said that "there would be no educational modernization without educational informatization. " Modern public law theory shows that state obligations originate from and directly serve citizens' basic rights, while citizens' basic rights directly determine state obligations. The right to education is a basic citizen right stipulated in the Chinese Constitution, which determines that the state is the subject of the natural obligation to ensure the realization of this right. According to the three-level theory of state obligations for human rights proposed by Norwegian human rights expert Asbjorn Eide , as well as the theory of state obligations arising from the basic rights function of the German constitution, we believe that state obligations for human rights should include obligations to respect, protect and pay [1]. The state's obligations on the right to education should be divided into three levels: the first level is the "obligation to respect", that is, the state is prohibited from infringing on the right to education, and shall not illegally interfere with or restrict citizens' right to education; the second level is the "obligation to protect", that is, apart from respecting, the state should also take measures to prevent other subjects from infringing on citizens' right to education; the third level is "payment obligation", that is, the state actively promotes the realization of citizens' right to education based on its economic development level and financial capacity. [2] The Chinese government has invested a lot of resources in ethnic minority areas and promoted the construction of educational informatization so that ethnic minorities in remote areas can break through the barriers of the geographical environment and also enjoy high-quality educational resources in developed eastern areas, which is actually fulfilling the "state payment obligation" of the right to education.

 

Therefore, in the process of China's educational modernization, educational informatization is the only way to protect the ethnic minorities' right to education.

 

 

China's educational informatization mainly focuses on two aspects of system construction and practical promotion to ensure the full realization of ethnic minorities' right to education.

 

At the level of system construction, since the new century, the central government has issued a series of policy documents on educational informatization to further promote educational equity, improve education quality, and ensure that every citizen enjoys a fair and high-quality right to education. For example, the "National Education Development "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" Outline" issued in 2007 requires governments at or above the county level to allocate educational resources in a balanced manner, share digital educational resources through distance education, and promote the balanced development of compulsory education. The Outline of the National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for Education Reform and Development (2010-2020), released in 2010, points out that it is necessary to give full play to the role of modern information technology, establish an open and flexible public service platform for educational resources, expand the coverage of high-quality educational resources, and promote the sharing of high-quality resources. The "Education Informatization 2.0 Action Plan" released in 2018 proposed to implement a large educational resource-sharing plan, promote the collection and sharing of open resources, and break the traditional barriers to the development and utilization of educational resources. In 2020, multiple ministries and commissions jointly released the "National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Guidelines for the Construction of Standard System", which proposes industry standards for the construction of intelligent education.

 

Specific to the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Xizang, following the spirit of the central government's policy documents, a series of policy documents related to educational informatization were issued, such as "Xinjiang's Implementation Plan for the Ten-Year Development of Educational Informatization (2011-2020)" and "Xizang Autonomous Region's Plan to Strengthen Digital Government Construction (2023—2025)." These policy documents outline the development goals and key tasks of educational informatization in Xinjiang and Xizang, including advancing the construction of digital campuses, strengthening the integration and sharing of educational resources, enhancing teachers' capabilities to use information technology, and promoting intelligent education construction, aiming to advance the sharing of educational resources, improve teachers’ information application skills, and ensure ethnic minorities have access to equitable and high-quality education.

 

On the practical promotion side, with strong support from the central government, Xinjiang and Xizang have actively pushed forward the construction of educational informatization in their regions, effectively safeguarding the full realization of the right to education for ethnic minorities.

 

Firstly, regarding the construction of informatization infrastructure, all schools and teaching points in Xinjiang have been connected to the Internet. In Xizang, the "Mt. Everest Cloud Flag" educational platform was established to ensure internet connectivity for all schools across the region.

 

In Xizang, the "Mt. Everest Cloud Flag" platform, established by the Xizang Autonomous Region's Education Department, is a comprehensive online education platform that has garnered over 600,000 registered users and hosts more than 120,000 online educational resources. This platform enables free access to educational materials from top teachers across Xizang and the entire nation, significantly reducing the cost of accessing educational resources for teachers and students in remote areas. It also serves as a live broadcasting platform specifically designed for remote teaching, enhancing the educational experience for students in various cities through smooth interaction, presentation transitions, and remote questioning capabilities. [3] 
 

Secondly, in terms of providing high-quality educational resources, Xinjiang and Xizang continue to enrich and strengthen the supply and balance of premium educational and teaching resources.

 

For instance, integrated informatized teaching connecting the eastern and western regions has become a norm in primary and secondary schools. In November 2023, an "Express Classroom" event was held online, joining a class in Tacheng, Xinjiang with Shenyang's Tuanjie Road Primary School, where a lesson themed on robots was conducted. The session involved interactive teaching using actual robots and tablet drawing, along with discussions where students could share their works and ideas, providing a new learning experience through this "cloud-based" instruction, which fosters the equitable development of high-quality educational resources. [4] 

 

This segment highlights the application of informatization in both basic and higher education. In 2018, two universities in China, separated by thousands of kilometers – East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai and Kashgar University in Xinjiang – utilized modern information technology to achieve interconnected teaching. The premium course "Inorganic Chemistry" from East China University was virtually transferred to Kashgar University. This established a new norm where teachers could address students across both locations online and renowned teachers would conduct online Q&A sessions. This practice enabled ethnic minorities in remote Xinjiang to access superior educational resources, improving the quality of education and mitigating the disparity in educational resources between eastern and western regions. [5] 

 

Thirdly, applying modern educational technology, Xinjiang and Xizang fully utilize big data and internet technology to promote and ensure the right to education for all citizens in the regions.

 

For example, Bayingol Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture First Middle School in Xinjiang conducted training last year themed on "Enhancing Teachers' Informatization Skills," focusing on the operation and application of smart blackboards. The training was interactive, showcasing the various functions of smart blackboards through live equipment demonstrations, including hardware usage, desktop tools, subject tools, and screen casting. Education technology experts provided live solutions and demonstrations tailored to each subject, highlighting tools like magnifiers, mind maps, classroom activities, and smartphone screen casting. Teachers mastered the basics of smart education technology, experiencing the convenience it brings to teaching, thus enabling them to better utilize technology in their instruction. [6] Additionally, Yecheng County Education Bureau in Xinjiang organized training and exchange activities for information administrators from all county schools on the use of the smart education platform. The training included an introduction to the national smart education platform, its usage, and precautions to improve the efficiency of the platform in educational work and to strengthen the sharing of experiences and cooperation among schools. [7]
 

 

If informatization can be seen as an extension and expansion of industrialization, then digitalization marks the beginning of a new era, shifting human thought processes from industrial to digital thinking. Currently, China has built the world's largest educational and teaching resource database, forging new pathways that are led and supported by services to facilitate comprehensive student development and teacher capacity building. The completion of the national smart education platform pilot covers all areas and has produced a series of landmark research results, providing significant support for the acceleration of a high-quality education system.[8] The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has, for the first time, included the concept of "promoting educational digitalization," clarifying the future action plan for the development of educational digitalization. It can be foreseen that, in the near future, educational digitalization will become a stronger driving force in securing the educational rights of ethnic minorities in China.

(Gong Xianghe, Executive Dean and Professor of the Institute of Human Rights, Southeast University)