Tibetan Families Pressured to Enroll Children in State Schools After Monastery Closure
Chinese authorities in Sichuan’s Tibetan region are compelling parents to place their children in state-run boarding schools following the shutdown of a Buddhist school linked to Lhamo Kirti Monastery, sources report. This closure has left around 600 young students in Dzoge County without access to their previous religious education.
The abrupt move, which has impacted additional students from a monastery school in Ngaba County, is part of an apparent government effort to enforce a minimum age of 18 for monastic schooling, a restriction implemented earlier this year. Previously, Tibetan children as young as five could begin studies within these monastic institutions, allowing early exposure to Tibetan language, literature, and Buddhist teachings.
Authorities now require around 300 students between the ages of 6 and 14 to attend state boarding schools known for their Chinese-language curriculum and emphasis on loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Efforts are being made for some older students, aged 15 to 18, to remain at the monastery, according to sources. Families must also sign agreements that commit their children to state schools, barring enrollment in other institutions, including monasteries, until adulthood.
This enforced transition has stirred concern among Tibetan families and rights groups, who see it as a strategy to dilute Tibetan culture, language, and religious teachings. “Parents are essentially being forced into these agreements under the pretense of following China’s education policies,” said a source in Lhasa, requesting anonymity.
Lhamo Kirti Monastery’s school, founded in 1986, previously operated with minimal interference until 1993, when the Chinese government began tightening restrictions on Tibetan language and cultural studies. Despite subsequent closures and reopenings, the school maintained a curriculum in Tibetan literature, Buddhist philosophy, and English — subjects now omitted from the state’s Mandarin-focused education.
Parents are mandated to sign legal documents citing Article 16 of China’s Law on the Protection of Minors, which permits guardianship by another adult if parents work remotely. According to sources, this requirement is another tactic for separating Tibetan children from their heritage.
The push toward state education has left families scrambling to prepare their children for new residential schools starting in September. Activists warn that the rapid closures of traditional schools in Tibetan areas signal a sustained attempt by the Chinese government to reshape Tibetan identity within the framework of state-controlled education.
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