Reported By Tenzin Phurbu
Edited By Pema Tso
Translated By TenGyal
The Chinese authorities are set to investigate and monitor school curricula in primary and middle schools, as well as online platforms for content that “ advocates separatism and condemns the Chinese Communist Party.”
On May 27th, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China issued a 16-point public directive supposedly aimed at “rectifying and prohibiting improper educational practices.”
According to the notice, the authorities will seek to investigate and prohibit all content in school curricula, online teaching and exam papers deemed to be “opposing the Chinese Communist Party and socialism, advocating separatism, and condemning the symbolicrepresentations as well as the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.”
The announcement from the Ministry of Education outlines a series of prohibitions at the outset. It explicitly prohibits such content,including “opposing the Chinese Communist Party and socialism, belittling the image of the Communist Party and the nation, denigrating the country’s leaders, advocating for separatism, distorting historical facts, and spreading misleading views.”
The directive further specified that “ it is prohibited to arbitrarily rearrange or་ rescale the contents in violation of the standardised national educational curriculum, to teach in advance beyond the set standards, to forcibly encroach on the class hours of moral education, physical education, aesthetics education, labour education and comprehensive practical activities. All education-related departments are not allowed to arrange and/or repeat programs that exceed the time limit set by the regulations.”
Among the restrictions imposed on the hours of education, it is prohibited “ to start school semesters earlier or to delay them, to hold make-up classes during the festivals and summer and winter holidays.” Similarly, it stressed the need to ban“ the selection of students into primary and middle schools based on selection exams and the results of the ‘social training tests’, assessing and ranking schools based on exam (results) and ranking, awarding and punishing teachers.”
Due to the frequent cases of teachers beating students emerging in China, the recent directive decreed bans on “ teachers engaging in acts that constitute humiliation, corporal punishment, scolding, sexual harassment and violation of human dignity of the students.” It also listed the need to restrict “ the cases of food poisoning suffered by students” and to ban “ forcing students to purchase school uniforms.”
Students in the primary and middle schools in Tibet were mandatorily required to purchase school uniforms. Initially, numerous residential schools were specifically set up for primary school students in Tibet. However, when children aged 4 and 5 began attending these schools, many faced serious challenges, including food poisoning and other health issues stemming from inadequate care. These concerns caused significant conflict between school administrations and parents. This necessitated the need for urgent improvements in both school meals and health standards.
