Abstract
Abstract
This research examines the challenges and accomplishments of popularizing basic education in nomadic regions of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The article provides a background and case study of Nyerong county in northern Tibet. The authors note the rapid progress but also point out that there needs to be more of a focus on improving the learning environment of school life by fostering creativity and the application of relevant knowledge.
In recent years, China has taken more intensified efforts in providing basic education in more remote communities. While rural areas have achieved impressive progress in popularizing basic education, nomadic areas are still more or less lagging behind. Despite less than one fifth of the TAR population being nomads, the provision of education for nomads in Tibet is significant for China’s initiatives regarding to Education For All (EFA), inclusive development and national integration.
The major nomadic regions of Tibet are mainly in the west and northwest and account for most of TAR’s land. This area includes eastern Ngari and western Nakchu and has one of the lowest population densities in the world, about 0.61 person per square kilometre. Among TAR’s 73 counties, 14 are nomadic and 24 semi-nomadic. Unfortunately, TAR’s statistics only distinguish between urban and rural areas, and does not further differentiate between farming and nomadic areas. Therefore, when reviewing the available data, we have to consider Nakchu and Ngari Prefectures as approximately equal to nomadic areas, and make other prefectures, except Lhasa, generally equal to rural areas.
Studies have shown that providing educational services for nomads is a huge challenge to the institutionalized state schooling in various contexts, as exemplified in Nigeria, Etritrea, Mongolia and India Studies (Ezeomach 1983; Tahir 1991; Tahir 1998; Woldemichael 1995; Kratli 2000; Westphal-Hellbush & Westphal 1974; Bose 1975; Agrawal 1992; Vira 1993; Hoon 1996; Gooch 1998). Providing education to nomads in TAR is equally challenging and deserves attention. Yet, except Zhu’s study (2008) on the impact of the sanbao (3 Guarantees: food, clothing, and lodging) policy in nomadic areas of TAR, very few research reports pertaining to nomadic education in TAR could be found to date.
What changes and developments have happened in promoting school access to nomadic communities of TAR? What continues to pose challenges to state schooling in these communities? This paper aims to grapple with these questions with a case study in Nyerong, a nomadic county in Nakchu Prefecture. We conducted two field visits to Nyerong. The three of us conducted fieldwork in the summer of 2007, and one of us returned to conduct more fieldwork in the fall of 2010. Each time, a few schools were visited, and conversations were conducted with school principals, teachers and students. Also, archival data were collected and meetings were organized with officials from the County Educational Bureau.
As one of the first initiatives in the field, this paper begins with an overview of basic education in two major nomadic prefectures of Nakchu and Ngari. It identifies some perceived obstacles that hinder education provision in these two nomadic prefectures. Finally, it presents a case study of educational developments in Nyerong county. Specifically, it focuses on changes in school access in Nyerong, and provides a further analysis of the challenges that have to be tackled in the near future. This paper argues that educational provision in Tibet’s nomadic communities has increased rapidly in the past decade. However, there is a continued need to promote a higher quality of classroom learning styles that foster intellectual innovation and creative thought.