Beijing, Jan 27 (IANS) Over 10,000 Tibetan students joined the so-called “Tibet classes” in major cities of China in 2025, marking the highest annual intake since the start of the programme, the Education Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has revealed citing the latest figures released by the Chinese government.
The Tibetan groups and rights advocates have criticised the programme, stressing that it is being used for political indoctrination and cultural assimilation, the report stated while highlighting that 10,500 students from Tibetan regions joined the ‘Tibet Classes’ set up in schools in various parts of China in 2025.
Chinese authorities, meanwhile, termed the enrollment figure as a historic high. The data revealed an expansion in the number of specialised classes and institutions set up under the programme, Phayul, a news portal about Tibet and Tibetans-in-exile, noted.
As many as five new schools dedicated to ‘Tibet Classes’ were set up in the Chinese cities in 2025. In addition, 150 new junior middle school classes were created, which saw enrollment of 2,000 students, 4,500 students enrolled in 205 new senior middle school classes and 223 new middle-level vocational education classes enrolled 4,000 students.
The report noted that the expansion of Tibet Classes, also referred to as Tibet Middle Schools, has increased since 2023, with student enrolment rising at an average annual rate of 9.9 per cent in the past three years. Chinese authorities have stressed that the rapid growth of the programme is guided by policy framework of “three increments, three coverages, and one standardisation,” the Phayul report detailed.
“The ‘three coverages’ indicate full implementation across all ethnic groups in Tibetan regions, every remote county, and border-area towns. The ‘one standardisation’ focuses on integrating vocational education with employment placement within middle-level vocational schools. Chinese officials claim that these policy goals are being successfully implemented on a yearly basis.
“The Tibet Class system was first introduced in 1984, with Beijing citing educational underdevelopment and a shortage of skilled personnel in Tibetan regions as justification. However, Tibetan groups and rights advocates have long criticised the programme as a tool for political indoctrination and cultural assimilation,” the report added.
As of 2025, official figures have revealed that 129 Tibet Class schools operate in 23 provinces and 60 provincial-level cities of China, with 25,000 Tibetan students joining them. Chinese authorities have stressed that approximately 180,000 Tibetan students have graduated from these schools over the years and are now working in various sectors.
–IANS
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