China Targets Preschool Children in its Sinicisation Drive

By Mary Trewartha / September 22, 2021;

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TVHRD) has released a report saying that a Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) decree went into force this month to teach Mandarin Chinese to all preschool children. The report, published on September 17, goes on to say that this new edict is an extension of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s belief in “catching them young, noting the significance of language learning in the early years, and discounting the purpose of bilingual education of helping children ease into the school system”.

The TCHRD reports that the MoE announced the Children Homophony Plan for Putonghua Education for Preschool Children in July, to be brought into force on September 1,saying its aim is to “cultivate a strong foundation for standard Mandarin language and help ‘build a sense of community for the Chinese nation”’ from an early age”.

Mandarin Chinese is now the required medium of instruction for all kindergartens in ethnic and rural areas and that teachers teachers are required to undergo “national common language application ability training”.

The plan, an element of China’s sinicisation of Tibet drive, is guided by Article 43 of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) that states, “We will raise the quality and level of education in ethnic minority regions and intensify efforts to popularise the national common language and writing system”.

The report says that the Sinicisation drive is “targeting Tibetan medium schools in the region, not sparing charity schools for poor Tibetan children”. Tibetan medium schools are being closured and students and activists petitioning for the use of the Tibetan language are being detained and harassed.

TCHRD reports that these moves are contrary to China’s own laws: “Article 10 of the 1984 Regional National autonomy Law, along with the People’s Republic of China’s Constitution and other national laws and statutes provide for areas where minority languages and Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) should be used as well as citizens and officials who should learn both minority languages and Putonghua”.