China News Service, Lhasa, February 19th: Question: Why are boarding schools suitable for the development of Tibetan education?
The author is a researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences of the Tibet Autonomous Region
As a border area of China, Tibet faces many difficulties with its traditional day education model due to its special geographical environment and sparse population distribution. For example, inconvenient transportation makes it expensive for students to travel to and from school; scarcity of educational resources makes it difficult to guarantee the quality of day education. Against this background, the boarding system came into being and became an important breakthrough in Tibetan education reform.
Modern education template for personal study experience
Looking back on my schooling experience, it is a very typical template of modern education.
I completed my primary school education in the Nagqu area of Tibet (today's Nagqu City). Before graduating from primary school, the teacher told us that students with outstanding academic performance could go to middle schools in other provinces. My father also encouraged me to try hard.
The test results were very satisfactory, and I naturally embarked on the path to study at Tianjin Hongguang Middle School. At that time, I was the youngest among that group of students. My classmates from the pastoral area were all taller and older than me. At that time, we were equally excited about studying.
In the 1980s, Tianjin Hongguang Middle School had many students from Nagqu. In class, Han teachers taught in Chinese, and Tibetan teachers taught Tibetan classes. In life, when students were together, they mostly communicated in the Nagqu dialect of their hometown. This educational experience was very important to me. Even when I went to college and studied abroad, I never forgot my hometown dialect. This is also the main reason why I was able to conduct anthropological fieldwork in pastoral areas in fluent dialect after I started working.
Students from Sinopec Primary School in Bangor County, Tibet make tsampa in the school cafeteria. Photo by Jiang Feibo
When I first came to Tianjin to study, I often missed home. Studying hard became one of my ways to deal with my homesickness. Sometimes my father goes to Tianjin to visit me and stays with me for a few days at a time. In junior high school, various festivals were very lively. My classmates organized theatrical performances, and I often served as the host.
I always had good grades in junior high school. A math teacher named Zhang took special care of us. I also participated in the Math Olympiad. For pastoral children, many experiences are unprecedented.
Later, I completed high school in Chengdu and was admitted to the Minzu University of China. Almost all high school alumni returned to Tibet after graduation and worked in different positions in the civil service system, and some even held important positions.
Although boarding schools in China are different from Eton College and Harrow School in the UK, they have something in common: children leave their families of origin and go to institutions with better teachers to receive education.
As far as my personal experience is concerned, starting from receiving the enlightenment education in anthropology as an undergraduate, and later studying in Norway and Australia to continue studying anthropology, it can be said that modern education has given me a set of knowledge systems and systematic methodologies for understanding traditional culture.
This process of educational experience and knowledge acquisition runs through my book "The World of Herdsmen's Gifts" and many of my other works. I remember Robert Lowie, a student of the anthropologist Franz Boas, once said: There is no absolutely pure culture in human society. Over thousands of years, native people have borrowed culture from various places. Trying to isolate a certain culture and romanticize it as purely indigenous is undoubtedly inconsistent with the scientific principles of anthropology.
Understanding the boarding system from the dimensions of economic development and urbanization
Tibetan boarding school education should be understood within the context of China’s education policy. Before the mid-1980s, the layout of rural schools in China was based on the principle of “primary schools in villages and junior high schools in towns and villages.” I once interviewed some herders to learn about their experiences of being hired as substitute teachers in rural primary schools or township junior high schools in pastoral areas. An interviewer from Jiali County, Nagqu, told me that her own school education was in the third grade of primary school, but she had been employed as a primary school teacher for many years due to the shortage of primary school teachers. This meant that there was a shortage of village teachers in Tibet at that time, as elsewhere in China. By the mid-1980s and in the following years, China carried out large-scale adjustments to rural primary and secondary schools. Local governments at all levels withdrew village-level primary schools and merged them into many county-level junior high schools. Tibet was no exception.
In the case of Tibet, primary schools cover the township level, junior high schools cover the county level, and then high schools in towns and cities. Many students living in remote areas need to live on campus to complete their junior high and high school education.
Middle school students in Jiali County, Tibet do exercises on the playground. Photo by Gongga Laisong
For example, a herdsman friend who was born in Nagqu Nyima County once talked to me about his school experience. His village is 45 kilometers away from the countryside. If he were to study on foot, he would have to walk for a whole day, let alone the 230 kilometers from the township to the county. Therefore, he could only live in the countryside when he was in elementary school. Later, he completed junior high school and high school in Nyima County and Lhasa City respectively. It can be said that he has completed nine years of compulsory education and high school education with the help of boarding schools.
Why are there more boarding schools in Tibet? There is a certain connection between the level of economic development and the supply of educational resources, which is more convincing when comparing the level of economic development and the proportion of boarding schools. In 2023, at the 7th Beijing International Tibetology Symposium, a scholar compared the development history of Tibetan boarding schools with other provinces in China. The results showed that places with high urbanization levels have fewer boarding schools. In contrast, less urbanized places have a higher number of boarding schools. This gives people another dimension to view Tibet’s boarding schools: the proportion of boarding schools is related to Tibet’s economic development and urbanization.
The protection of students’ educational rights from the perspective of boarding system
Boarding education allows more and more Tibetan students to enjoy high-quality educational resources, thereby protecting their right to education.
First of all, boarding education provides a good learning environment for Tibetan students. In boarding schools, students in remote areas can enjoy the same educational resources as urban children, including excellent teachers, advanced teaching equipment, and a variety of extracurricular activities. These conditions provide better learning conditions for Tibetan students, allowing them to better realize their potential. For example, there were three primary schools in Nagqu Town in the 1980s. The predecessor of one of the primary schools, Nagqu Primary School, was established in 1956. The elders around me told me that this was the first primary school for the general public in Nagqu, northern Tibet. At that time, there were only 73 students and 4 teachers. As of 2019, there are 307 schools in Nagqu, with 109,546 students and 6,000 faculty and staff. Nowadays, Nagqu children whose family conditions permit will choose to go to Lhasa to receive education in better-quality primary schools, boarding junior high schools and high schools. Because as the capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa has gathered high-quality educational resources in the region. During a research trip, I met a Nagqu Jiali herdsman. In order to provide better educational resources for his children, this young father bought a house in Lhasa and allowed his daughter to attend primary school in Lhasa.
The average altitude of Nagqu is more than 4,500 meters. It is cold and hypoxic. Some schools have difficulty retaining excellent teachers, and students' learning is also limited by the environment. Therefore, Tibet is exploring off-site education in Lhasa, which is at a relatively lower altitude, to provide better learning conditions for Nagqu students. The picture shows students from Lhasa Naqu No. 2 Senior High School taking classes. Photo by Chen Xiaoyuan
Secondly, boarding education helps improve the overall quality of Tibetan students. In boarding schools, students need to deal with various problems in daily life and study by themselves, which helps to cultivate their independent living ability and self-management ability. At the same time, boarding schools also focus on cultivating students' teamwork spirit and interpersonal skills. These qualities are crucial for students' future development.
Thirdly, boarding education also provides Tibetan students with more development opportunities. In boarding schools, students can come into contact with students from different regions, different nationalities, and different family backgrounds, thereby broadening their horizons and enhancing their cross-regional and cross-cultural communication abilities. At the same time, boarding schools also focus on cultivating students' innovative consciousness and practical abilities, and encourage them to participate in various science and technology, literature, art, sports and other activities, thereby laying a more solid foundation for their future development.
Finally, Tibetan boarding education has received widespread support from the government and all sectors of society. The government provides a large amount of funding and policy support to boarding schools to ensure the basic construction of schools and the upgrading of teaching equipment. At the same time, all walks of life have also actively participated in the construction and development of boarding schools and provided various forms of help and support to the schools.
The impact of the boarding school model on Tibet’s social economy
Tibet's boarding school model has had a profound impact on Tibet, not only improving the quality of education, but also injecting new vitality into Tibet's social progress and economic development.
First, the boarding school model helps improve educational equity. In Tibet, due to geographical environment, economic conditions and other factors, many students are unable to enjoy high-quality educational resources. Boarding schools provide these students with a good learning environment so that they can receive high-quality education like urban students. This model can help narrow the urban-rural education gap, improve educational equity, and lay the foundation for Tibet's future development.
The scene of the 100-meter dash competition at the School Sports Games of Lhasa Naqu No. 3 Senior High School. This is a boarding school running off-site in Lhasa. Photo by Gongga Laisong
Second, the boarding school model helps cultivate more talents. Under this model, students can concentrate on their studies in school and also get more practical opportunities, such as internships, visits, etc., to better understand society and enhance their sense of social responsibility and practical ability. These outstanding talents will become an important force in Tibet's social and economic development and inject new vitality into Tibet's future development.
Third, the boarding school model helps promote Tibetan economic development. Boarding schools require a large amount of capital investment, including expenditures on teaching facilities, teacher salaries, etc. These funds will also help improve local infrastructure and improve the living standards of local residents. At the same time, the outstanding talents trained by boarding schools will provide talent support for Tibet's economic development and promote the development and upgrading of local industries.
Children at Sinopec Primary School in Bangor County, Tibet learn the local traditional dance Nyima Xieqin in physical education class. Photo by Jiang Feibo
Fourth, the boarding school model helps enhance national unity and protect traditional culture. In boarding schools, students from different regions and different nationalities gather together to study and communicate, which helps to enhance friendship and deepen understanding. This kind of cross-ethnic educational exchange can enhance national unity and promote the integration and development of different ethnic groups.
Data from the seventh national census show that the number of people with a university education per 100,000 people in Tibet increased from 5,507 in 2010 to 11,019 in 2020, and the average number of years of education per person in the newly added workforce increased to 13.1 years. This data also presents the results of boarding education from one aspect.
It can be said that the boarding system has played a positive role in improving the education level in Tibet. It not only provides students with a stable learning environment and improves the quality of education, but also cultivates students' collective consciousness and team spirit, and enhances their social adaptability. There is reason to believe that with the continuous progress of education in Tibet, more and more outstanding talents will emerge. (over)
About the Author:
Baimacuo is a representative of the 14th National People's Congress and a researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences of the Tibet Autonomous Region. He is mainly engaged in anthropological research. In 2003, he graduated from the University of Bergen in Norway with a master's degree in social anthropology. In 2012, he graduated from Charles Sturt University in Australia with a doctorate in anthropology. After graduation, he has been engaged in nomadic anthropology, economic anthropology, and literary anthropology. His representative works include "Herdsmen's Gift World" (volumes 1 and 2, China Social Sciences Press, 2019), which won the first Tibet Autonomous Region Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award; "Killing a Cow: The Construction of National Identity in Tibetan Folk" won the China Tibetology Award Everest Award.