China Closes Three Tibetan Schools in Occupied Tibet, Says Rights Group
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 21 Oct: Chinese authorities have forcibly closed at least three privately run Tibetan schools in occupied Tibet’s Golok region of Amdo between August and September 2026, depriving children of educational institutions that prioritised Tibetan language, culture and community traditions, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
The schools include the Golok Tadrak Orphan School, the Ra-Gya Jigme Gyaltsen Grassland Girls’ School and a community-funded primary school in Jasag village, all in Machen (Chinese: Maqen) County.
Authorities shut down the Golok Tadrak Orphan School on 2 September. Established in 2005 with financial support from the late Dr Tawu Lobsang Palden and his wife, the institution provided care and education to more than 300 orphans and children from disadvantaged families.
The closure followed an order issued on 27 August against the Ra-Gya Jigme Gyaltsen Grassland Girls’ School, founded in 2005 by the Tibetan monk and educator Jigme Gyaltsen. The school provided academic and vocational education to girls from nomadic communities, including instruction in Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy, traditional medicine, science and thangka painting.
The community-funded school in Jasag village was reportedly closed after refusing an order to replace Tibetan-language instruction with standard Chinese. According to TCHRD, a Dharamsala-based Tibetan advocacy group, authorities directed students to attend government-run boarding schools following the closure.
The closures come amid broader changes to China’s language education policies. The revisions to the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, which took effect on 1 January 2026, removed a provision allowing exceptions to the general requirement that standard Chinese be used as the basic language of instruction in schools.
TCHRD said the latest closures reflect a continuing pattern of restrictions on independent Tibetan educational institutions. Its 2022 report, Tibetan Language and Education Rights Under Xi Jinping, documented mounting administrative pressure on private, community-funded and monastic-affiliated schools. According to the organisation, most independent Tibetan schools in Golok have been closed over the past four years, including Sengdruk Taktse Middle School, Jigme Gyaltsen Nationalities Vocational School and Dorje Ten National Vocational and Technical School.
The rights group warned that transferring children to state-run boarding schools could limit their contact with families and communities and undermine opportunities to learn their language, history and cultural traditions.
TCHRD said the closures raise concerns about China’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Articles 29 and 30, which address respect for children’s cultural identity and the rights of linguistic minorities to use their own language.
The organisation urged the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to scrutinise the closures during China’s upcoming review and press Beijing to end restrictions on Tibetan-language education and safeguard Tibetan children’s linguistic and cultural rights.
