China’s minority preferential policies and the schooling of indigenous Tibetan children: the weakest link

ABSTRACT

Since the introduction of the Chinese colonial education system into Tibet in the 1960s, the Tibetan language has been caught in the crossfire. Because of Tibetan language’s perceived strong relationship with national identity and its alleged separatist implications, the Chinese leadership has always maintained an uneasy and sceptical outlook on it. Textbooks in Lhasa and other urban areas are exceedingly written in Chinese. The invalidation of mother tongue in the schooling process causes serious emotional trauma resulting in low academic achievement and low proficiency in the native language. The People’s Republic of China’s constitution guarantees the freedom of all nationalities ‘to use and develop their own spoken and written languages’. The trajectory of Tibetan language has, however, reflected the political winds sweeping across the plateau rather than educational imperatives. Therefore, this conceptual paper uses language-as-problem, language-as-right and language-as-resource framework for the critical analysis of language policy in occupied Tibet. Additionally, the role of social media is explored in language revitalisation despite PRC’s draconian language policing political agenda. A strong additive bilingual education with the sustained use of Tibetan language of instruction is advanced for enhancing both Tibetan and Chinese proficiency and academic achievements of indigenous children.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous education
• Chinese colonial education
• Tibetan language in education
• Chinese Minority Preferential Policies
• and the role of social media on language revitalisation

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

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Nawang Phuntsog

Dr. Nawang Phuntsog is a faculty in the Department of Elementary and Bilingual Education, California State University, Fullerton, where he has been teaching multicultural and bilingual courses since 1995. His research interest includes the examination of intersection of diaspora, indigenous and minority educational issues. He can be reached at [email protected]