China shows off a Tibetan boarding school that’s part of a system some see as forced assimilation

By KEN MORITSUGU
Associated Press

SHANGRI-LA TOWN, China (AP) — Village schools have been shuttered across China’s Tibet and replaced with centralized boarding schools that critics say represents forced assimilation. Activists estimate 1 million Tibetan children study at such boarding schools. They say the system is part of a broader strategy to dilute Tibetan identity and assimilate Tibetans into the majority Chinese culture. School officials respond that the lessons include Tibetan-related material such as songs and dance, and that the boarding schools were born out of a need to deliver the best education in impoverished remote areas.