Xizang's boarding schools support educational equity, not forced assimilation, official says

Farmers and herders in the Xizang autonomous region have a strong desire to send their children to boarding schools, which can ensure that children in remote areas gain access to quality education, a senior official said on Wednesday.

In recent years, some Western media outlets have raised concerns about the use of boarding schools in Xizang, often comparing them to residential schools in countries such as Canada and the United States, where historical tragedies involving indigenous children occurred.

The boarding schools in Xizang are fundamentally different from these and have nothing to do with so-called "forced assimilation", "compulsory boarding" and "human rights violations" claimed by some in the West, Duan Yijun, vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said during a news conference held by the State Council Information Office on the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law and China's work on ethnic affairs.

In China, the boarding system refers to schools providing accommodation and meal services for students. It is not a closed-off school system, nor is it managed in a militarized manner. Whether students board is entirely up to the students and their parents, based on individual family and educational needs, Duan said.

In practice, the number of boarding students is dynamic, with choices made according to personal needs. Some students switch from boarding to day school and vice versa, depending entirely on the choices of the students and their parents. Boarding students can return home on weekends, holidays, and during winter and summer breaks. Parents can visit their children at school at any time and take them home as needed.

As Xizang is vast and sparsely populated, the cost of sending children to school is high for farmers and herders, and the burden of transporting children to and from school is heavy for parents.

"To ensure that children of all ethnic groups on the plateau equally enjoy high-quality education, and in response to the wishes of the people, the government has implemented boarding systems in some farming and pastoral areas. It better provides safe and convenient conditions for students and meets the needs of both parents and students," Duan said.

Today, people in Xizang can fully enjoy educational equity no matter where they live. According to statistics released by the region in 2024, the enrollment rate of school-age children in the entire region reached 99.98 percent. To better ensure the right of all ethnic groups to equal education, the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law has made comprehensive legal provisions regarding language education, the joint study, living, and growth of students from all ethnic groups, inter-regional exchanges among young people, and the allocation of public service resources, he said.

Duan added that the Chinese experience of striving for unity and achieving common prosperity can serve as an important reference for the governance of ethnic affairs in countries around the world.