As the Chinese often say, "Education is the foundation of national development in the long run."

 

For a country, education has a bearing on not only the quality of the nation but also on the future and destiny of the country.

 

For individuals, especially those born in remote and backward areas, education is also the fundamental way to change one's fate and realize one's life dreams.

 

In practice, in Xizang and other ethnic minority areas, the Chinese government has worked its heart out to develop education, regardless of the cost. The purpose is to effectively protect the right of all ethnic groups in Xizang, especially ethnic minorities to receive education, and to promote the all-round development of Xizang  through revitalizing education. Studies found that the Chinese government's efforts to protect the Tibetan and other ethnic minorities' right to education can at least be summarized in the following three aspects:

 

Firstly, actively formulate and improve local policies and regulations to revitalize education in Xizang in accordance with the law. At the national level, China has a series of education-related laws such as the Education Law, the Compulsory Education Law, and the Teachers Law, as well as rules and regulations and education development plans issued by The State Council and the Ministry of Education. In Xizang, the Department of Education of the Xizang Autonomous Region and other departments have formulated corresponding local laws and regulations in accordance with the above-mentioned laws and regulations and in light of the actual conditions in Xizang, providing a legal basis for promoting the development of education in Xizang that is more in line with the local conditions. 

 

For example, Article 36 of the Measures for the Implementation of the Compulsory Education Law（of the People's Republic of China） in the Xizang Autonomous Region stipulates that “schools shall, in accordance with relevant regulations and in light of actual conditions, offer courses in Tibetan language and standard spoken and written Chinese language, and offer foreign language courses when appropriate.” Obviously, the requirement for Tibetan language courses in this article is based entirely on the actual situation in Xizang.

 

Secondly, promote the leapfrog development of education in Xizang through preferential policies. These preferential policies or assistance include at least the following:

 

First, Xizang took the lead in the country in implementing 15-year free education (starting in 2012), which means tuition fees will be exempted from kindergarten to high school graduation. In contrast, most provinces and regions in China still implement the nine-year compulsory education, where tuition fees are charged in kindergarten and high school. In Beijing, my daughter pays more than 1,000 yuan a month for kindergarten.

 

Second, education assistance to Xizang. Departments and schools at all levels across the country have helped with Xizang’s education development by means such as providing funding to build schools, and dispatching excellent teachers to schools at all levels across Xizang. In September last year, I went to several middle schools built by other provinces and cities in Xigaze and Lhasa for research. I found that these schools are equipped with beautiful campus, advanced teaching facilities and highly qualified teachers. They are the best middle schools in these regions, and also the most attractive ones for students and parents of all ethnic groups.

 

Third, advanced universities and middle schools in other provinces will help schools at all levels in Xizang to improve their levels of teachers and education through "pairing assistance". For example, Xizang University's partner schools include seven mainland universities such as Peking University and Wuhan University.

 

Thirdly, increase financial input to provide a strong material guarantee for the Tibetan ethnic minorities' right to education. Just take the “Three Guarantees” policy as an example. Since 1985, Xizang has began to adopt the “Three Guarantees” policy-providing food, accommodation and school expenses-for children of farmers and herdsmen, as well as children from impoverished urban families. According to statistics, the annual average funding per student receive under the "Three Guarantees" policy in 2023 has reached 4,200 yuan. 

 

In contrast, according to the document issued by the Chinese Ministry of Education, the 2023 benchmark for public funding per student in China's compulsory education stage is 720 yuan for primary school per student per year, and 940 yuan for junior high school. As a parent working in Beijing, I am really envious of the high subsidies enjoyed by students in Xizang and hope that children from other provinces could enjoy such policies in the future. In addition to the “Three Guarantees” policy, the aforementioned 15-year free education, education assistance to Xizang as well as other policies also need huge capital investment.

 

The three aspects mentioned above are only parts of the great efforts made by the Chinese government to guarantee the right of Tibetan ethnic minorities to education. These policies have greatly promoted the development of education in Xizang and provided a strong guarantee for the right to education of ethnic minorities in Xizang.

 

According to statistics, before the peaceful liberation, the illiteracy and semi illiteracy rate in Xizang was over 95 percent, the enrollment rate of school-age children was less than 2 percent, and the children of serfs were completely deprived of their right to education.

 

By 2022, Xizang has 3,409 schools at all levels. The gross enrollment rate of preschool education reached 89.52%, the retention rate of compulsory education reached 97.73%, and the gross enrollment rate of senior high school reached 91.07%. These indicators have reached or exceeded the national average. According to the seventh national census, the number of people in Xizang with college education per 100,000 people has increased from 5,507 in 2010 to 11,019 in 2020, and the per capita years of education for the incoming labor force has increased to 13.1 years.

 

These facts show that the Chinese government has made great efforts to protect the right to education of ethnic minorities in Xizang and has achieved unprecedented achivements, bringing about earth-shaking changes in the educational cause in Xizang. This has provided a strong educational impetus for Xizang to achieve leapfrog development and join the people of all ethnic groups in China in moving toward modernization.

 

That’s all, thank you for your listening. 

（Jia Chunyang, associate research fellow, the executive director of the Economic and Social Security Research Center of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations）