Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, May 6: A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released on Monday has raised alarm over China’s early childhood education policies in Tibet, warning that recent reforms are rapidly eroding the linguistic and cultural foundations of Tibetan society. The report, titled “Start with the Youngest Children: China’s Use of Preschools to ‘Integrate’ Tibetans,” it examines how state policies are reshaping the lives of Tibetan children and families.
At the center of the report is the July 2021 directive issued by China’s Ministry of Education, known as the “Children’s Speech Harmonization Plan.” For the first time, the policy mandated the use of Mandarin Chinese as the primary medium of instruction, care, and communication in all preschools across the country, including in ethnic minority regions such as the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan autonomous prefectures.
Although the “Harmonization Plan” does not explicitly ban minority languages, HRW argued that it nullifies protections previously afforded under China’s 1984 Regional Nationality Autonomy Law, which granted minority communities some authority over language use in education. In practice, the report stated, the new framework downgrades constitutional guarantees protecting minorities’ rights to use and develop their own languages.
The impact of the policy is compounded by a range of reinforcing measures. Authorities have expanded preschool enrollment, making attendance increasingly unavoidable for Tibetan families. At the same time, kindergartens have introduced Mandarin language testing—despite legal provisions that preschool education should be play-based—and, in some cases, parents are reportedly instructed to speak Mandarin at home and even submit video evidence of doing so. These practices, HRW said, place significant pressure on families and constrain their ability to pass on language and cultural traditions to younger generations.
Beyond language, the report highlighted the ideological dimensions of early childhood education in Tibetan areas. Kindergartens are now required to instil political values aligned with state objectives, including fostering loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, promoting identification with the “Chinese nation,” and emphasizing what authorities describe as “traditional excellent Chinese culture.” At the same time, religious content—including Tibetan Buddhist traditions, festivals, and cultural knowledge—is excluded from curricula, further distancing children from core aspects of their heritage.
By enforcing Mandarin not only in classroom instruction but also in daily interaction, play, and caregiving, the policy fundamentally alters children’s linguistic environments during a critical stage of development. According to HRW, this raises the possibility that minority children in China may go through their entire education without meaningful exposure to their mother tongue, except as a limited subject of study.
The consequences are already becoming visible. Tibetans with recent access to the region report that children as young as three or four begin to lose fluency in Tibetan after entering Mandarin-medium preschools. This language shift is accompanied by broader cultural changes, including weakened communication between generations, disruptions in family dynamics, reduced transmission of religious and cultural knowledge, and a growing perception among children that their native language and identity are of lesser value.
The report noted similar patterns are emerging in other minority regions across China. HRW warns that these developments raise serious concerns under international human rights law, including potential violations of children’s rights to language, culture, education, and family life, as well as protections guaranteed to minority communities. The policies may also conflict with provisions in Chinese law governing preschool education and minority autonomy.
HRW concluded that the post-2021 education reforms are not merely contributing to gradual language decline but are actively transforming the cultural and social fabric of Tibetan society. The report cautioned that, if left unchecked, these policies could place the survival of the Tibetan language and cultural identity at risk within a single generation.
HRW has called on the Chinese government to align its education policies with international standards, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, by ensuring that minority children are able to learn in and maintain their native languages. It also urged authorities in Tibetan areas to guarantee that Tibetan children can study and use their language at all levels of education.
The rights watchdog further appealed to foreign governments to press Beijing to uphold its constitutional and international obligations, particularly the right of minorities to receive education in their own language.
