There were formerly many private schools in the Dzachukha region of Sichuan where Tibetan language and culture were taught, a source in Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture told RFA. “But from the end of 2020, and without any real justification, these schools were all forced to close down, with the children required to go to government-supervised schools instead,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Parents of the affected children and other local Tibetans are deeply concerned over the imposed requirements, saying that keeping young Tibetans away from their culture and language will have severe negative consequences for the future, the source said. “And the Tibetan nomadic families who don’t want to send their children to schools supervised by the Chinese government are now being forced to do so,” he added. The closing of the schools in Sershul violates China’s own laws guaranteeing the right of ethnic minorities to learn their own language, said Karma Tenzin, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute.
