Special report: Tibet: Its Past and
Present
BEIJING,
April 18 -- For several decades the Tibetan Autonomous Region has maintained a
bilingual education system. Teaching of the Tibetan language has received
special emphasis in schools. These have contributed to a renaissance of the
local dialect.
This is the No. 2 Primary School, located in the
Chengguan District of Lhasa. As on any other morning, the Tibetan language is
being taught to twelve classes.
Tsering sangpo, teacher, said, "The arrangement with
the Education Bureau, calls for at least 1440 hours of Tibetan lessons to be
taught each school term. The Tibetan language is also a major subject at our
school. That will ensure the students can adapt to Tibetan courses in middle
schools and even colleges. The aim is to maintain the local cultural tradition."
Currently, Tibetan is a major language used in all
primary and middle schools in the autonomous region. At schools in farming and
herding areas, most lessons are taught in Tibetan. Standard Chinese language is
also taught. So far, local authorities have formulated and enacted regulations
that assure teaching of the Tibetan language. All students of the Tibetan ethnic
group are required to learn the local dialect as a major subject. Written
examinations for subjects taught in the Tibetan language are written in the same
language.
According to the Tibetan Language Working Committee,
the teaching of language has been flourishing, as the local culture receives
unprecedented attention.
Over the past twenty years, the Tibetan University
has trained more than 13 thousand Tibetan language teachers for local middle
schools.
(Source: CCTV.com)
