By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, November 5: Over a hundred Tibetan school students on Nov. 1 protested against a Chinese official following his address at a public event where he called for change of medium of instruction from Tibetan to Chinese language in Tibetan primary and middle schools in Ngaba, Zoege County.
Zhang Tianke, head of the Ngaba Education Board, on October 29, called on Tibetan students to study in Chinese language saying that it will help them get admissions in reputed universities and better career opportunities. Zhang was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a workshop organized by the Regional Chinese Education Board.
He then criticized the education level of Tibetan nomadic schools saying that the key factor to improve the nomadic student’s education level is by teaching them in Chinese language.
An amateur video uploaded on youtube shows students shouting slogans in Tibetan including: “Better to help a hundred than help one” and “Equality of education”.
Students from Tibetan schools in Barkham, Chuchen, Sungchu, Ngaba, Dzoege, Khyungchu and Dzamthang in Ngaba County attended the workshop.
The International Campaign for Tibet cited Tibetan sources saying that a proposal to separate classes in Zoege County according to the abilities of students and teachers was discussed. The ICT said that Tibetan students feared this proposal if implemented would lead to a more ‘elite’ form of education wherein students with less ability would not benefit from the same opportunities.
The protests by the Tibetan students, the Washington DC based advocacy group said, demonstrate that Tibetans are continuing to take bold steps in peacefully asserting their views and defending their culture and values despite a political climate in which almost any expression of views by Tibetans not directly sanctioned by the state can be characterized as ‘criminal’ by the authorities.
Sporadic protests against replacement of Tibetan by Chinese as a medium of instruction in Tibetan schools have been reported in the past. The first protests were reported from Rebkong on 19 October, 2010 when Tibetan students from 6 different schools carried out protests demanding ‘Equality of People, Freedom of Language’.
