China Closes 30-Year-Old Tibetan School: Impact on Culture and Identity
The Chinese government has shut down Gangjong Sherig Norbu Lobling, also known as Jigme Gyaltsen Nationalities Vocational School, a well-known Tibetan private school with a 30-year history located in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
On July 12, four days after the school’s 27th graduation ceremony, founder and principal Jigme Gyaltsen announced the closure following government directives. A closing ceremony was held within two days, attended by numerous government officials. Images and videos on social media showed students and teachers in tears.
Tenzin Dawa, Executive Director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamshala, stated, “We have received an update… that a highly reputed 30-year-old Tibetan private educational school has been forced to shut down by Chinese authorities inside Tibet… due to the school being run by the Tibetans and for the Tibetans.”
Dawa emphasized the school’s role in preserving Tibetan language and culture and called on China to respect the rights of ethnic minorities as per their Constitution and international treaties.
Tempa Gyaltsen, Deputy Director of the Tibet Policy Institute in Dharamshala, said the closure aims to marginalize Tibetans and harm their culture. He noted that the Chinese government has launched a boarding school system to assimilate Tibetans into Chinese culture.
The closure announcement came one month after President Xi Jinping’s visit to Siling (Xining), where he visited the government-run Golok Ethnic Middle School and the Tsongkha Tsechen Dargyeling monastery.
Doubts Revealed
Tibetan School -: A Tibetan school is a place where children from Tibet go to learn. They learn about their language, culture, and other subjects just like in any other school.
Gangjong Sherig Norbu Lobling -: This is the name of the Tibetan school that was closed. It had been teaching children for 30 years.
Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture -: This is an area in China where many Tibetan people live. It has some special rules to help protect Tibetan culture.
Assimilate -: To assimilate means to make one group of people become more like another group. In this case, it means making Tibetan people more like the Han Chinese majority.
Han Chinese -: Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group in China. The government wants everyone to be more like them.
Tibetan activists -: These are people who work to protect Tibetan culture and rights. They speak out when they think something unfair is happening to Tibetan people.
Tenzin Dawa and Tempa Gyaltsen -: These are two Tibetan activists who are upset about the school closing. They are trying to protect Tibetan culture.
President Xi Jinping -: He is the leader of China. His visit to the region happened before the school was closed.
