Publications

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Racial Discrimination in Tibet (2000)

Discrimination in Education

Culturally-Biased Curriculums and Censorship

The education of "minority" nationalities and that of Han Chinese has always differed substantially in its aims and methodology. While the latter receives a more vocational-based education directed towards developing the student for personnel positions in the government and local economy, Tibetans and other "minorities' are subjected to rigorous ideological indoctrination bent on instilling allegiance to the unity of the motherland. The proportion of "useful' or practical education they are offered is slight in comparison, as it is simply deemed "less important'. Catriona Bass, who conducted an extensive study of education in the Tibet Autonomous Region after teaching in China herself, confirmed that "education for "minority' nationalities has the primary political goal of instilling a sense of commitment to the unity of China " and encouraging patriotism towards it." The "TAR" Party Secretary, Chen Kuiyuan, unashamedly admitted this in 1994, stating that the installation of "correct' ideological discipline in students was of far greater importance than their academic advancement:

"The success of our education does not lie in the number of diplomas issued to graduates from universities, colleges, polytechnic schools, and secondary schools. It lies, in the final analysis, in whether our graduating students are opposed to, or turn their hearts to, the Dalai clique, and in whether they are loyal to, or do not care about, our great motherland and the great socialist cause. This is the most salient and the most important criterion for assessing right and wrong, and the contributions and mistakes of our educational work in Tibet. To successfully solve the problem, we must improve political and ideological work in schools."

In a Lhasa radio broadcast the following month, he reiterated these priorities even more clearly, announcing that "the essence of educational work is to cultivate qualified constructors and successors for the socialist cause, and this is the sole basic mission of minority nationality education."

Despite claims by Chinese White Papers that "organs of self-government of autonomous areas may decide their own local education programs", the curriculums enforced for students of "minority" nationalities, particularly Tibetans, are closely monitored and controlled by the central government, and seek to fulfil a political, rather than academic, goal:

"The curriculum for both higher and basic education must depend on whether it can guarantee the unity and territorial integrity of the country; the curriculum is directly connected with the question of "stability" of the whole country."

As a result, both Tibetan teachers and students find themselves under strict censorship, where even uttering the name of the Dalai Lama can lead to severe punishment. Between 1989 and 1994, there have been 64 known arrests of schoolchildren under the age of 18 in the "TAR" for "political" reasons, while between 1983 and 1995, at least 21 teachers have been arrested for similar reasons. One teacher, a 26 year-old woman from the Lhasa Cement Factory Primary School named Dawa Dolma, was given a three-year prison sentence for apparently "writing reactionary songs on the blackboard and teaching them to her students."

More recently, a senior and respected Tibetan educationalist and scholar from Qinghai, Gyaye Phuntsog, was sentenced in July 1999 to six years in prison for the crime of "damaging the stability of the nation". Gyaye Phuntsog had founded a school, funded partially by UNESCO, which catered for some of the region's poorest Tibetan families and focused on the study of the Tibetan language. He was said to have been detained after documents relating to the Dalai Lama were found in his possession, but was released again towards the end of 1999 on medical parole after being tortured during interrogation. One unconfirmed report stated that the elderly teacher was deprived of food and sleep for several days, and has since been unable to walk without the use of crutches.

Gonpo Sonam worked as a teacher at Ngaba Middle School in Dzoge County, Ngaba "TAP" from August 1996 to December 1998 before escaping to India in June 1999. "I was supposed to be teaching Tibetan grammar, but the only books were allowed to use were Chinese. The students had to read from a collection of Mao"squotations everyday, as well as spend time studying the policies of other "great" Chinese leaders. Tibetan teachers like myself were instructed not to make any "counter-revolutionary" statements to the students, or to talk about the Dalai Lama. One day another teacher heard me talking about the importance of national identity and language, and I was immediately removed from the class and the school. I also lost my seat on a higher teacher-training course in Lhasa after the administration "discovered my crime". After that, I had no choice but to flee into exile."

A 17 year-old boy, also from Lhasa, attended Lobdring Nyiba (No.2 Middle School) for three years and reported similar strict control after escaping in November 1999. "Tibetans were always being intimidated by the Chinese teachers not to say or do anything that might be seen as 'political' or 'anti-China'. We were forbidden from learning any Tibetan history or from even saying the Dalai Lama's name, and those who were caught doing such things were taken to the headmaster's office, where he would call their parents and interrogate them. Sometimes the Chinese teachers would call the police, and then the student would be beaten. We were so afraid that we would find it difficult to concentrate in class, and then the teachers and other Chinese students would laugh and call us 'lazy Tibetans'."

10 year-old Tsewang from Nyelam County in Shigatse escaped to India in January 2000 specifically to gain a better education. "I was not happy in Tibet. I spent five years in school, but I was taught only Chinese and never had the opportunity to study Tibetan language or culture. We were also forbidden from keeping any photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Once in class I was asked to pass a cup of tea around, and my locket - which had a small picture of His Holiness on - fell out of my shirt. The teacher saw it and started shouting at me. He said that I was young and should not fall under such bad influences. He then tore it away from my neck and gave me one yuan instead, saying that one yuan was worth a lot more than the Dalai Lama. Although I was afraid I would be caught again, I wore another locket as soon as I could. One Tibetan teacher knew I was wearing it, and told me that it was not a good idea, as if I were caught I would be thrown out of the school. I really hated that school."

A 19 year-old nun from Toelung Dechen County in Lhasa arrived in exile in December 1998. "Before escaping Tibet, I studied at the Lhasa Sorig School for three years. It was like a prison - students were restricted from reading, listening to or discussing any historical or political topics connected with Tibet unless they were Chinese. Instead, we were forced to study Chinese political ideology and Communist policies. We were also instructed to denounce the Dalai Lama and swear our allegiance to the motherland in a meeting called by the school authorities. In 1993, the Chinese authorities banned certain medical texts because their explanations had 'religious connotations'. Then in 1995, they banned the subject 'Thampa Lhache-kyi Choelam' from the textbook of 'Jhawa-Choelam' because it identified religion as an important factor in social behaviour. I don't think any of us learnt anything useful at all at this school, because all there was left after the censorship was Chinese communist policy."

The Chinese paranoia that equates anything Tibetan with "splittist" ideology bent on destroying the unity of the motherland has also ensured that academic books containing even the mildest non-communist political references are either banned or rewritten. In late 1997, the government introduced a new campaign in the "TAR" to "make socialist literature and art prosper", and demanded that Tibetan writers not only reflect the views of the working class, but also redefine Tibetan culture as "non-Buddhist". Two specific works on 17th century Tibetan history were withdrawn from sale and publicly condemned in the speech by Party Secretary Chen which launched the campaign:

"The political tendencies and ideological contents of literary and artistic works are not controlled strictly and accurately. There are also a small number of literary and artistic works which, by turning things upside down, extol what should not be extolled"

Patriotic education has also firmly rooted itself in the examination papers taken by students across Tibet, be they entrance exams or finals. Paldon, a 17 year-old girl from Lhasa, reported that when she sat for the entrance exam for the secondary school in her area, they were given many questions on ideology and politics. "Our Tibetan teacher from primary school had warned us that these questions would come up in the exam, and advised us how to answer them so that we wouldn't get into trouble. There were questions such as "Is Tibet a free country or is it part of China?" and "Is the Dalai Lama a splittist or a leader?" We all wrote what they wanted to hear, because we were so scared of the consequences should we write our true feelings."

22 year-old Nyeser from Kawasumdo County, Tsolho "TAP", fled Tibet in December 1999. "I studied in a private school run by a Tibetan monk scholar from Ragya Monastery, which was located right next to the school. The school used to have a different name, but this was changed by the local authorities, apparently because it had 'political connotations'. It is now known as 'Jigme Gyaltsen Private School'. Anyway, the county authorities were always afraid that the students at the school would be influenced politically by the monks in the nearby monastery (many of whom have been arrested for political demonstrations) and so they would subject us to the same patriotic re-education as the monks. Every year we would have a written exam with questions such as 'Tibet has been a part of China for 700 years - Yes or No?' We also had to go through an oral examination whereby each student was asked whether they opposed the Dalai Lama or not. Everyone would answer that they did, because we were afraid that they would close the school down if we didn't."

Other questions from a typical secondary school paper include:

"How can Tibet become a powerful and wealthy nation?
Through:
A. Continuation of the leadership of the Communist Party, of the Reform and Open Door Policy, and advancing harmony between the nationalities.
B. Independence.

...and:

"Since 1987 there have been many riots in Lhasa, including riots by monks. What is your new opinion of the principle behind these demonstrations and their damaging nature?

It is because the curriculums give so much precedence to the indoctrination of political allegiance that students from "minority" nationalities fall so far behind their Chinese counterparts, of whom the necessary allegiance is assumed. Tibetans are also severely disadvantaged by the fact that school curriculums in the "TAR" are very rarely adjusted to suit the environments in which they are taught. 80% of Tibetans live in rural areas, and yet the textbooks that they are forced to use in class present urban social and economic conditions vastly alien to their own. What they learn does not therefore help them in making any significant contribution to the existence they lead outside the classroom, as the Chinese educationalist Yang Wanli notes:

"...apart from a little simple mathematics, a few Chinese characters and a little simple Tibetan, what students learn about such matters as ideology, how to earn a living, Tibetan economy and society is almost nothing. This means that the knowledge gained by the students is either useless, or they do not know how to use it to make a living"

Furthermore, the curriculum is not only irrelevant but unashamedly evocative of Han hegemony and superiority. The smallest textbook example is carefully crafted to affirm the view of Tibetans as a "backward" people, and to strengthen the infiltration of Han culture. As one Tibetan scholar in China concludes,

"An educational system has been established in Tibetan areas that is almost wholly based on Han culture and way of thinking. Because Han culture is believed to be the most advanced culture, and Han look down on other cultures, "minority" nationalities are forced to learn Chinese and completely unrelated courses. For example, Tibetans have many trees, but they are always taught how to plant rice, etc. Chinese history is taught, Han dynasty, Sui dynasty etc, but they do not allow Tibetan history to be taught"

What they are reading in books and what they experience in life is completely unrelated. Thus their mental ability actually regresses."

It is this widespread curricular discriminatory bias that led the International Commission of Jurists to conclude in their 1997 report that "Rather than instilling in Tibetan children respect for their own cultural identity, language and values" education in Tibet serves to ideologically indoctrinate Tibetan children and to convey a sense of inferiority of their own culture, religion and language". The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also cited the curriculum in Tibet as a Principal Subject of Concern in 1996, asserting that

"[t]he instruction provided in the curricula on the history and culture of minority nationalities is not adequate compared to the education provided concerning the history and culture of persons of the Han nationality."