扎洛：西藏寄宿学校与西方殖民时期的寄宿学校有着本质区别

Boarding schools in Xizang fundamentally different from colonial-era residential schools in West: expert

Zhaluo (2nd R), an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center, speaks at a side-event themed"the Concept and Practice of Human Rights in China" on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, March 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

GENEVA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Boarding schools in China's Xizang Autonomous Region are totally different from those"colonial-era residential schools in Canada, Australia, and the United States," where"astonishing tragedies once happened," a professor said at a human rights conference on Thursday.

Did boarding schools in Xizang"separate Tibetan children from their families" and"force them to receive assimilation education in boarding schools"? Zhaluo, an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center, asked at a side-event of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Those with a positive answer either know little about Xizang or purposely stigmatize China, Zhaluo said at the event themed"The Concept and Practice of Human Rights in China."

"I once studied at a boarding school. Besides, over the past 30 years I have been committed to researching Xizang's development, so I am familiar with boarding schools in the autonomous region," he said at the meeting organized by the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

The main reasons that Xizang established and developed boarding schools are as follows: First, the population is widely dispersed, making it difficult to attend a school close to home; Second, the mountainous geographical conditions render transportation inconvenient.

"Boarding schools that allow school-age children to study and live together are the best way to promote school education," he noted.

The expert told attendees that based on his observations in the past 30 years, the infrastructure of boarding schools in Xizang and students' living allowance standards have seen obvious improvements, and the student management and care system has become increasingly mature and standardized.

He said that the boarding schools maximally guarantee that children of farmers and herders in Xizang's remote areas enjoy the right to education, and thanks to the implementation of the boarding school system, both rural and urban students can share high-quality educational resources and receive school education equally, thus narrowing the rural-urban educational gap.

"As a matter of fact, a variety of boarding schools full of humanism and vitality have provided a favorable environment for the growth of numerous students in many parts of the world, including China's Xizang Autonomous Region, and offered them the golden key to a splendid life," he stressed. 

图片This photo taken on March 9, 2023 shows a side-event themed"the Concept and Practice of Human Rights in China" on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

附：全文中文翻译

专家声音：西藏寄宿学校与西方殖民时期的寄宿学校有着本质区别

一位教授在周四的人权会议上表示，中国西藏自治区的寄宿学校与那些“加拿大、澳大利亚和美国殖民时代的寄宿学校”有着本质的区别，在那些学校“曾经发生过令人震惊的悲剧”。

西藏的寄宿学校是否“将藏族儿童与他们的家人分开”，“强迫他们在寄宿学校接受同化教育”？中国藏学研究中心的专家扎洛在联合国人权理事会第52届会议的会外活动上被问到。

扎洛在主题为“中国人权的理念与实践”的活动上表示，那些给出肯定答案的人要么对西藏知之甚少，要么蓄意污蔑中国。

“我曾经是寄宿学校的学生。此外，在过去的30年里，我一直致力于西藏发展的研究，因此我对自治区的寄宿学校很熟悉，”他在中国人权研究会组织的会议上说到。

西藏建立和发展寄宿制学校的主要原因有以下几点：一是人口居住分散，适龄儿童难以就近入学；二是多山的地理条件致使交通不便。

他指出：“允许适龄儿童一起学习和生活的寄宿学校是促进学校教育的最佳途径。”

这位专家告诉与会者，根据他过去30年的观察，西藏寄宿学校的基础设施和学生的生活补助标准都有了明显的改善，对学生的管理和照顾制度也日趋成熟和规范。

他说，寄宿制学校最大限度地保证了西藏偏远地区农牧民子女享有受教育的权利，由于寄宿制学校的实施，城乡学生可以共享优质教育资源，平等接受学校教育，进而缩小了城乡之间教育的差距。

他强调：“事实上，各种充满人文关怀和活力的寄宿学校为包括中国西藏自治区在内的世界许多地方的众多学生提供了良好的成长环境，为他们提供了追求精彩人生的金钥匙。”

（翻译/刘星雨，译者系中国藏学研究中心社会经济研究所助理研究员。本文由译者独立翻译，文责自负）