China shuts three Tibetan schools, raising fears for language and cultural identity

Chinese authorities have shut down at least three privately run Tibetan schools in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture within weeks, disrupting the education of hundreds of children and intensifying concerns over the future of the Tibetan language and cultural identity, according to a report by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

The closures are part of a broader pattern that the CTA says is pushing Tibetan children towards state-run schools where Mandarin Chinese is the main language of instruction. The report, which cites sources in the region, also points to growing surveillance of phone and internet communications, making independent verification of developments increasingly difficult.

Among the institutions affected was the Golog Tadrak Orphan School in Tabo village, Machen county, which authorities reportedly closed on September 2, 2026. Established in 2005 with support from the late Dr Tawu Lobsang Palden and his wife, who lived in Germany, the school provided education and shelter to more than 300 children who had lost both parents or came from broken families.

Another institution, the Ra-Gya Jigme Gyaltsen Grassland Girls’ School, also known as Gangjong Tsathang Girls’ School, was shut down on August 27, according to the report. Founded in 2005, it served girls from nomadic herding communities across Ü-Tsang, Kham and Amdo, offering both academic education and vocational training.

Its curriculum included Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy, science, traditional medicine, handicrafts, thangka painting and astrology. The CTA described the school as an important centre of Tibetan education whose graduates had earned recognition in their communities.

The closure has renewed concerns among Tibetans over the loss of institutions that combine formal education with the preservation of local traditions. The same community had faced a similar setback in 2024, when authorities shut down the Ra-Gya Gangjong Sherig Norbu Lobling School.

The third institution, a village school in Jasak, Machen county, was reportedly closed at the end of August after local authorities ruled that it could no longer teach in Tibetan. Officials allegedly directed the school to adopt the “national common language”, referring to Mandarin Chinese written in simplified characters.

Students were subsequently transferred to nearby government-run boarding schools, the CTA report said. Villagers had established and funded the school through crowdfunding to ensure that younger generations could continue learning their mother tongue.

A wider pattern of school closures

The latest shutdowns add to a series of closures affecting Tibetan educational institutions in Golog in recent years.

The CTA report cited the closure of Sengdruk Taktse School in July 2021, followed by the shutdown of seven other private schools across Darlag, Machen, Gade and Chikdril counties.

It also highlighted the permanent closure of Hungkar Dorje Vocational High School on June 24, 2026. The institution had taught Tibetan language and culture since 2008.

Taken together, the closures have raised questions about the future of community-supported schools that provide education in Tibetan and pass on cultural and religious traditions. For families in nomadic and rural communities, such institutions have also served as important local centres of learning.

Concerns over linguistic and cultural rights

The CTA has condemned the closures as violations of educational, linguistic and cultural rights, arguing that transferring Tibetan children to Mandarin-medium boarding schools risks weakening their connection to their mother tongue and cultural heritage.

The report also cited warnings issued by UN human rights experts in 2023 that around one million Tibetan children were affected by a boarding-school system they described as involving “forced assimilation”.

The CTA argued that the school closures conflict with international protections for minority-language education, as well as provisions of China’s Constitution and its Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law.

The allegations add to longstanding concerns over language and education policies in Tibetan areas. However, the latest closure details and claims about official motives are based on the CTA report and were not independently verified in the information provided.

For the affected children, the immediate consequence is a disruption to their education in Tibetan. The wider concern, according to the CTA, is whether future generations will retain access to the language, knowledge and cultural traditions that these schools were established to preserve.