State of Education in Tibet: A human rights perspective

This report looks at some of the Chinese government’s educational policies in Tibet that fail to benefit the Tibetan people but rather help achieve Beijing’s political aims. It also studies China’s compliance with its own laws – the Constitution, its various regional, ethnic, and minority laws that clearly promise the right to education to its people. The report also studies Beijing’s compliance with various international human rights laws and treaties that it has signed and ratified.

The findings of the research reveal a grim picture of the state of education in Tibet. In the 45 years of China’s forceful occupation and domination of Tibet, it can also be ascertained that Beijing is halfway through its unwritten policy of the – Sinicisation of Tibet.

Tibetans in Tibet do not have a say in the planning of education policy in Tibet. The few who do represent the Tibetan people are handpicked by the authorities and have no choice but to agree with the government’s policies.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Education, Ms. Katarina Tomasevski’s description of the state of education in Tibet as horrendous at the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCHR) in Geneva in April 2004 was sufficient indication. Similarly, her report on the general state of education in China after her visit in September 2003 was a wake-up call to China to improve the quality of education for her people.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, through this report, aims to put into perspective the state of education in Tibet. There is no dearth of research materials on the state of education in Tibet, however, TCHRD through its interviews of Tibetan refugees reaching Nepal and India has much to share and be concerned about.

Click here to read/download the full report.