China to drop Tibetan as core subject in national entrance exam

Beijing’s push to intensify Sinicisation across the Tibetan Plateau has taken a step forward, with the Communist Party of China’s top Tibetan leader announcing that the Tibetan language will no longer be a core subject in the region’s national college entrance examination for most students.

Gama Cedain, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) government, said the decision was part of reforms to the gaokao, China’s highly competitive national examination, and would “improve Tibetans’ career prospects.”

The announcement comes amid President Xi Jinping’s Han-centric assimilation policies, which exile Tibetans and rights groups see as an attempt to erase their cultural identity.

“Once you no longer have the Tibetan language in your entry exam, it no longer is a legal means of communication or useful to seek a job,” Dawa Tsering, director of the Dharamsala-based Tibet Policy Institute, said.