Tibet flags ‘colonial style’ schools at UN forum

With the Dharamshala-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) repeatedly accusing China of forcibly enrolling Tibetan children in the colonial-style boarding schools in occupied Tibet, the critical schooling situation was also flagged at the recently held 17th United Nations Forum on Minority Issues at Geneva.
During the session on “minority representation in education”, Phuntsok Topgyal, the UN advocacy officer from the Tibet Bureau Geneva condemned the Chinese government for what he described as a systematic campaign of cultural destruction that threatens the survival of Tibetan identity.
Notably, the officer disclosed that over 1 million Tibetan children have been forcibly enrolled in colonial-style boarding schools where Tibetan language instruction is banned, and Mandarin is enforced as the only medium of communication. He further detailed the demolition of sacred sites like Atsok Monastery and the relocation of Tibetan populations from their ancestral lands.
“The persecution is not limited to infrastructure and education,” Topgyal said, adding, “Advocates for Tibetan cultural preservation face severe repression, with individuals like Tsering Tso detained for speaking out against ethnic discrimination. The removal of young monks from religious institutions signals a direct attack on the transmission of Tibetan traditions to future generations.”
Earlier, the CTA had called for immediate intervention to the situation from the international communities, stating that China’s continuation and strengthening of compulsory and colonial-style boarding schools across Tibet is resulting in cultural erasure and loss of Tibetan identity.
The CTA had in September said the recent reports from reliable sources in the Ngaba region of Tibet have raised serious concerns about China’s educational policies and practices that are targeted at young Tibetan monks and nuns and pose a threat to the preservation of traditional Tibetan culture, religion, and way of life.
The UN Forum on Minority Issues meets annually for two working days allocated to thematic discussions pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 6/15 of September 28, 2007, and resolution 19/23 of March 23, 2012. This year, the theme of the UN Forum was the representation and self-representation of minorities in public spaces and discourses.
Based on the dialogue and contributions of the participants a summary of the discussion of the Forum will be prepared by the Chairperson of the UN Forum, and the Special Rapporteur on minority issues prepares a report on the recommendations of the UN Forum to the Human Rights Council.