(TibetanReview.net, Mar18’22) – For questioning the lack of Tibetan language classes, Chinese authorities in Chamdo City of Tibet Autonomous Region had taken away three secondary school students in Oct 2021 and their whereabouts still remain unknown, said freetibet.org of London-based Free Tibet Mar 16, citing its research partner Tibet Watch.
The three students have been named as Palsang, 16; Sermo, 15; and Yangkyi, 11. They were stated to have expressed their unhappiness with the lack of Tibetan classes and the problems they faced as a result of it.
It is believed that the three are being incarcerated in the city’s Markham County “reform through education centre”.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s renewed Sinicization drive, all subjects in Tibetan schools in Chinese ruled Tibetan regions are being taught only in the Chinese language.
With homogenization and patriotism towards the Chinese nation being the main focus of education, love for the Communist Party of China and the so-called Xi Jinping thought constitute a major focus of the education curriculum today.
Not only is there only a limited teaching of Tibetan in schools but also privately- and monastery-run schools and coaching centres teaching Tibetan language and culture, including outside routine school hours, have been banned or shut down throughout the Tibetan Plateau one after another in recent years.