Dr Gyal Lo’s Makes Presentation on China’s Colonial-style Boarding Schools in Tibet at a Conference in Tokyo

July 20, 2024

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Dr. Gyal Lo making a presentation on the Chinese colonial boarding schools

Tokyo: Tibet House Japan and the Asian Democracy Movement organised a talk and press conference by Tibetan Educational Sociologist Dr. Gyal Lo and his team comprising Dorjee Tsetan, Tibetan Parliamentarian and Asia Program Manager at Tibet Action Institute, and Tenzin Minlek and Tsering Dorjee of the Students for Free Tibet at Bunkyoku Civic Center in Tokyo today.

Representative of the Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia, Dr. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya, welcomed the audience and introduced Dr. Gyal Lo, who has a long experience as a teacher and lecturer in different schools and universities in Tibet, and how Chinese policy behind the boarding school and the discrimination he faced forced him to flee Tibet and take refuge abroad. A short documentary on the Chinese colonial boarding school was presented to highlight the gravity of the situation.

Dr. Arya also shared the good news of the signing of the US Congress’ Tibet Resolve Act by President Joe Biden on 12 July. He explained the importance of the law and how it strongly establishes and demonstrates the US’s support and vision for a free and democratic Tibet. A Japanese translation of the law (S.138) was distributed to the audience, and some important points were read for particular attention.

Dr. Gyal Lo, educational sociologist and a leading expert on China’s assimilative education policies in Tibet, made a presentation on China’s colonial boarding schools in Tibet and how it started and evolved in three stages: first in 1970s with introduction of assimilative policies; second from 1984 onwards to take the Tibetan children away to Chinese cities; and third and the latest from 2016 with the closure of the native schools and forced education of one million Tibetan children from as young as 4 and 5 to 18 years old at the Chinese boarding schools. He explained how young children are indoctrinated and how they behave awkwardly after attending boarding school for some time.

Tenzin Minlek of the Students for Free Tibet (SFT) talked about the activities of the SFT to highlight the Chinese brutal assimilative policy to destroy Tibetan identity and deny the young children their mother tongue, culture, and religion.

Tibetan MP Dorjee Tsetan thanked the organisers and the audience for providing a platform to speak on this CCP’s drastic policy to rob the Tibetan children of their language and identity. He also talked about the US Tibet Resolve Act. He requested the Japanese people and the government to come up with a statement condemning China’s colonial boarding schools and for legislation similar to the US Tibet Resolve Act to demonstrate Japan’s support for freedom, human rights, and democracy in Tibet.

The press conference was held after the talk. Media people asked about specific suffering and torture faced by the children and its impact on both children and the parents, and how Tibetans in exile are making efforts to counter this Chinese assimilative policy.

A report booklet on colonial boarding schools by the Tibetan Action Institute and translated into Japanese by the Tibet House Japan was distributed freely to the audience and the media. Akira Shiho moderated the talk event, and Takayuki Kojima of the Asian Democracy Movement moderated the press conference.

Dr. Gyal Lo and the team delivered talks and presentations at Meiji and Waseda Universities. They met Shimomura Hakubun, Chairman of the Japan Parliamentarian Support Group for Tibet, where Dr. Gyal Lo informed the critical nature of the situation in Tibet and sought the lawmaker’s support. Dr. Gyal Lo will speak at Tokyo University and some other places.

-Report filed by Office of Tibet, Japan