China have made Mandarin language instruction mandatory for Tibetan students who took the country’s annual college admission exam over the weekend, according to residents cited by Radio Free Asia.
Radio Free Asia is a private, non-profit news organisation that receives funding from the US government. It transmits radio shows and posts news, information, and analysis online. In China, the exams that will determine the future of 13 million students were held from June 7 to 9.
Tibetans and other members of ethnic minorities were formerly permitted to take the exam in their mother tongue, but China made significant changes this year. Tibetans were asked to take the test solely in Mandarin by Chinese authorities. Additionally, unlike in the past, ethnic minorities no longer receive an additional five minutes to finish the test, according to Radio Free Asia.
The Mandarin language that will be used for the test is concurrent with other controversial education policies meant to establish Mandarin as the medium of instruction within Tibetan schools, Tibetan activists went on to say it is a Beijing plan to eliminate Tibetan culture and Sinicize the region.
“In 2022, the Chinese government imposed the Model 2 Education System, under which Mandarin was made the primary medium of instruction in all the primary and secondary schools across Golog, Kardze, and Qinghai”.