China imposes a new decree enforcing “Mandarin” as medium of instruction on Tibetan children

A recent official order by Ministry of Education (MoE) of China imposes a new decree stating that the medium of instructions shall be “Mandarin” instead of Tibetan language among the Tibetan children of preschool and Kindergartens. The reason for such order is to bring all the educational activities within one “national standard” language and the order has been made to be effective from the fall semester of 2021. Additionally, the teachers are also supposed to undergo “national common language application ability training” in batches during the period of 2021-2025. Activists have raised concern right after the decree has been ordered as there is an apprehension that the use of ‘Mandarin’ might be an attempt to sinicize the education system, cultural and ethnic values of Tibet.