Vast network of Chinese boarding schools in Tibet to mold 'patriotic' citizens: Report

China is establishing a vast network of boarding schools in Tibet where Tibetan young children are being kept away from their parents and community to turn them into 'patriotic' citizens of future China, a media report said.

China is establishing a vast network of boarding schools in Tibet where Tibetan young children are being kept away from their parents and community to turn them into 'patriotic' citizens of future China, a media report said. The information was released in the report, titled "Separated From Their Families, Hidden From the World: China's Vast system of Colonial Boarding Schools Inside Tibet". It was released by Tibet Action Institute, a Dharamshala based intelligence center.

The report said that the new policy of Chinese administration in Tibet aims at "forcing three out of every four Tibetan students into a vast network of colonial boarding schools." According to the Tibet Press, these schools are focused on separating children from their families and the social environment from the earliest possible age. About 8-9 lakh Tibetan students, aged between six and 18 are already admitted to these special schools, the report added.

In several cases, the families have been coerced to part with their four-year-old children on the promises of 'good education'. Earlier in October, Tibet-focused media group Phayul had reported that children between 8 and 16 years of age are sent to new military education camps set up this year in the autonomous region's Nyingtri city.

These military-style camps are situated in an already sensitive militarised region. The centres are established to foster affection towards the communist regime in China. The communist regime states that the aim of such camps is aimed at increasing "the spirit of patriotism and increase the spirit of patriotism and defending the nation, increase physical strength, inculcate mental strength and stamina, and also to increase the spirit of unity among the children," the media outlet said quoting Chinese state media.

Children during their summer vacation are taught discipline through military drills and physical activities at military summer camp and training centre on the banks of Lake Draksum Tso, according to Phayul. These camps are similar to vocational skills training institutes and enterprises in Nyingtri focused on Tibetan farmers, nomads and former political prisoners.

The Phayul article cited a Free Tibet report that argues that since the 2008 Tibetan Uprising, China's CCP has been heavily invested in using "artificial intelligence technology to boost surveillance and revamped its assimilatory ethnic policies to break connections, lineages, lifestyle and loyalties." China has been exercising such practices for a long time to shape the thoughts of people in a way the regime wants.

In Xinjiang, the regime has been running multiple camps to shape the citizens in a pro-Beijing way. However, multiple media reports have claimed that Xinjiang camps are internment camps, not education centres as China claims. Reports have also alleged that there are extensive human rights violations, including rape, torture and sexual abuse at the so-called re-education camps in Xinjiang. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)