A senior Chinese official on Wednesday firmly rejected foreign media characterizations of Xizang’s boarding schools as instruments of forced assimilation or human rights violations. Duan Yijun, vice minister of the United Front Work Department, addressed the allegations directly at a State Council press conference. He stated that such reports contradict the actual facts on the ground entirely. Furthermore, he framed the boarding school system as a cornerstone of China’s commitment to educational equity across all ethnic groups.
Duan clarified that China’s Compulsory Education Law authorizes county governments to establish boarding schools specifically to serve students in geographically dispersed communities. Additionally, he emphasized that enrollment in these boarding schools remains entirely voluntary for students and their families. Parents retain full freedom to visit their children at any time and withdraw them whenever necessary. Moreover, students regularly return home on weekends, holidays, and during seasonal school breaks throughout the year.
Officials also highlighted the practical necessity driving boarding school expansion across the Xizang plateau. The region covers vast territory with a highly scattered population, making daily school commutes extremely costly and burdensome for families. Consequently, boarding schools provide safer and more convenient educational access for children in remote rural and pastoral communities. Duan noted that local farmers and herders have shown strong and consistent willingness to enroll their children voluntarily.
To contextualize the policy further, Duan contrasted present conditions with historical educational deprivation in the region. Before modern governance, school-age enrollment barely reached two percent and over 95 percent of the population remained illiterate. Today, by contrast, official 2024 statistics show the enrollment rate for school-age children reaching 99.98 percent. The retention rate for compulsory education meanwhile stands at 96.94 percent, reflecting substantial progress across the plateau.
Duan additionally drew a sharp distinction between China’s boarding schools and colonial-era Indigenous residential schools that some Western nations once operated. He argued those historical systems suppressed culture and identity, whereas China’s approach actively protects and promotes ethnic equality. Going forward, officials indicated the newly enacted Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law will further strengthen legal protections for equitable education nationwide.
