They are banned from Tibetan-language tutoring and from participating in religious activities.

-by Radio Free Asia 

With the start of winter school break in Tibet, Chinese authorities have implemented new restrictions on Tibetan children, banning private Tibetan-language lessons and requiring ones that focus on Mandarin skills and Chinese political topics, two sources with knowledge of the situation said.

In some areas, they are even forbidding children from wearing religious symbols or participating in religious activities, since the winter break began on Dec. 30, said the sources who requested anonymity for safety reasons.

The restrictions are the latest moves that appear to be part of Beijing’s wider goal to suppress and even erase the Tibetan language and culture and subsume everything under Han Chinese culture and the Mandarin language.

During the two-month-long winter break, Tibetan students in the capital Lhasa and across Tibet are prohibited from receiving tutorials outside of school-planned assignments or taking private lessons in the Tibetan language, they said.

Instead, authorities have instructed students to focus on improving their Mandarin-language skills by taking lessons to further enhance their proficiency, the sources said.

In Dzoge (Zoige in Chinese) and Ngaba (Aba) counties in Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, authorities have restricted children from wearing clothing with Tibetan religious symbols, one of the sources said.

This comes along with a ban on Tibetan-language tutoring and a prohibition on parents from taking their children to monasteries or letting them participate in religious activities during the vacation. Teaching any academic modules beyond the Chinese state-approved curriculum is strictly prohibited, the sources said.

Vacation assignments

The restrictions are being enforced across various Tibetan areas such as Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province and Dzoge, Ngaba, and Kardze in Sichuan province, they added.

The Chinese government has specifically prohibited the teaching of Tibetan language during the winter break, mandating that students focus on school homework based on Chinese government political education only. Click here to read more.