An Evaluation on the Effect of China’s Policies for Ethnic Minorities’ Rights &

Interests to Culture and Education

(The Research Center for Ethnic Issues in China)

June 2009

Table of ContentsForeword and Background................................................................................................................1

I. Evaluation on Policy Effect............................................................................................................2

(I) Policy Framework.................................................................................................................2

(II) Policy Effect..........................................................................................................................3

II. Cause Analysis...............................................................................................................................5

(I) Problems in Practice..............................................................................................................5

1. Cultural Continuity of Minor Minorities in Face of Challenges.......................................5

2. Preferential Educational Policy in Face of Wide Doubts..................................................5

(II) Cause Analysis......................................................................................................................7

1. Assumption by Economists...............................................................................................7

2. How to handle the relationship between individual development and cultural continuity of ethnic groups....................................................................................................................7

III. Suggestions on Innovation Activities: From social development history to cultural Ecology8

1. In aspect of idea: Drive the shift of Majority’s Idea in Society from preference to mutual benefits.................................................................................................................................8

2. In aspect of system: To build the fair competition mechanism and complete the autonomous region law so as to ensure objectively and subjectively the fair continuity of the ethnic cultures and traditional knowledge.......................................................................9

3. In aspect of community: Grant powers to the grassroots communities at the ethnic areas to encourage those communities to initiatively participate in the project aids and decision making................................................................................................................................10

Conclusion & Expectation...............................................................................................................11

Foreword & Background

China, as a multi-ethnic-united country taking shape during the thousands years of history, has been in demand since the ancient time to protect the ethnic minorities’ rights and interests to culture and education. However, the ethnic rights and interests at the ancient time and in nowadays represent in quite different means. This Paper is confined to the duration of the period since 1950s.

In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded at China’s mainland and the central government, since it was established, has done a lot of work in improving the status of the ethnic minorities and the rights and interest thereto. The work includes ethnic identification, investigation on the society and history of the ethnic minorities and the study on social formation. And the process is accompanied by the establishment of the autonomy system and the high institutes of education at the ethnic minority areas and the script formulation for those minorities. The period from 1949 to 1959 is the ten years during which the People’s Government of China had established the best relationships with the ethnic minorities at different areas. And such fact is admitted by all ethnic minorities. The policies made for ethnic minorities during the period laid a solid foundation for the development of ethnic relations in China in the later.

During 1957-1978, China had made a lot of radical policies including the socialist transformation in urban areas, the great leap forward (Da Yue Jin) in rural areas as well as the class struggle and the Cultural Revolution in the later time. Those events had resulted in serious impairment to China’s ethnic minorities and the majority. However, the autonomy system and the affirmative actions to assist the minorities to develop economy and education that were established for the ethnic areas in 1950s had not been changed in nature, instead, those system and policies were accompanied by the idea of class struggle, an idea deformed many situations in the entire country, and such deformation was required to adjust through the reform and the opening to the outside world.

China adopted the policy of Reform and Opening up in 1978, and the economic system shifted to the market one at the inland area and the policy emphasis was shifted to the economic construction from the class struggle, which also brought changes to the minorities and the ethnic areas correspondingly. The early stage of 1980s is an important period during which China’s policies for rights and interests to ethnic minorities had been reconfirmed and strengthened. For instance, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Autonomy at Ethnic Areas was formulated and promulgated in this period. With China’s successful reform of market economy and the increase in the economic strength, the Government has increased the fiscal investment in the ethnic minorities’ areas, and such fiscal investment and transfer payment accelerated the local infrastructure construction as well as the industrial and economic developments, and therefore, both the economic growth and the living standard at those areas were greatly improved.

1

The demands of the ethnic minorities for rights and interests are not limited to the economic aspect, the deterioration in cultural development of many ethnic minorities due to the modern economic impact is one of the concerns drawn China’s attention.

The Chinese ancestors believed that “poverty needs reform, and reform leads to an unimpeded way which, in turn, leads to the sustainable developmenti.” Since the main difference between the ethnic minorities and the majority does not lie in the economic but in the social culture, it is out of time to assess the indicator of ethnic development simply with the economic growth. It is objectively required to continuously increase the weigh of cultural indicator in its policies for the development at the ethnic minorities’ areas. As the core of cultural indicator is the eco-balance of the multiple cultures, some Chinese scholars began to advocate the ideological shift from the social development history to the cultural ecology so as to advocate the cultural diversification and get rid of the linear development idea. One of the ways to shift the idea is education, especially that deepens the cultural ecological idea,

To cooperate with the United Nation Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in examining the contracting states’ execution, the Research Center for Ethnic Issues in China hereby submits the Evaluation Report on China’s Policy for Ethnic Minorities’ Rights and Interests to Education and Culture for reference.

I. Evaluation on Policy Effect

(I) Policy FrameworkChina’s policies for the cultural development at the ethnic minorities’ areas include the general and the specific connotations, the latter refers to the use of languages and scripts, the compilation and protection for cultural legacies, the establishment of cultural continuity and study institutes, etc., while the former also includes the state supports for establishing the press and the publishing, the radios and TVs as well as the activities of arts and sports, etc.

With regard to languages and scripts: It is stipulated in China’s constitution that “all ethnics shall have the right to freely use and develop their own languages and scripts.” Meanwhile, the minorities also have the right to handle the public affairs in the language that is generally used at the autonomous regions and the communities where the ethnic minorities gather. Furthermore, each ethnic shall have the right to use its own language in literary and artistic creation, audio and video broadcasting and publishing, etc.

With regard to compilation and protection for cultural legacies: The Chinese government has listed in its National Outline of Cultural Development and Planning during the Eleventh “Five-Year Plan,” and actively supports the projects of the ethnic minorities to apply for the non-material cultural heritage, the literary and artistic performances as well as traditional sport events, etc.

With regard to the establishment of cultural continuity and study institutes: The Chinese

2

government has issued the supplementary policies and adopted measures to cultivate the cultural talents and establish the cultural continuity and study institutes at the ethnic minorities’ areas. At the same time, the government also assists the ethnic minorities’ areas to launch the cultural causes including establishing the press and the publishing, the radios and TVs as well as the activities in arts and sports, etc.

With regard to education: The ethnic minorities in China enjoy the right to receive education for the common citizens, and the Chinese government, besides issuing the policies under which the students at the ethnic areas (including those at the rural areas) can exempt from the tuition and the costs of books and supplies and receive subsidies if they are boarders, has also compiled the textbooks with the scripts of the ethnic minorities to protect their languages and scripts, established a lot of high institutes of education (HIEs) and the vocational-technological schools at the ethnic areas to support the educational development and cultivate talents at those areas. In addition, China has also adopted diversified educational means at Xinjiang and Xizang (Tibet) autonomous regions, those means include establishing the ethnic class, launching preliminary education and bilingual education in the common HIEs, etc. In recent years, China also adopts the measures to encourage the eastern areas to provide partner assistance to education at the ethnic areas in western China so as to promote the development of the ethnic education.

(II) Policy Effect1. Cultural policies. 53 of the 55 ethnic minorities in China have its own languages (of which, Hui and Manchu ethnics share the language with the Han Chinese), and there are 28 kinds of scripts are used by 22 ethnic minorities. In accordance with the statistics by the office of the steering team for investigating the use of languages and scripts in China in 2000, among the 104 million people of ethnic minorities, over 60 million are still use their own languages in communication, those people account for 5.46% of the total population in China, and there are almost 30 million people use their own scripts; the people of ethnic minorities have created diversified literatures and arts in their own languages or with their own scripts.

With regard to the broadcasting and the publishing with the languages and scripts of ethnic minorities: There are 73 Broadcasting stations in the 155 autonomous areas all over China, those stations can broadcast 441 programs including 105 programs in the languages of ethnic minorities. There are 90 TV stations at the above areas that can telecast 489 programs, of which, 100 are in the minorities’ languages; there are 254,850 systems that can receive and transfer the satellite broadcasting and TV programs; there are 99 kinds of newspaper in the entire China that are published with the scripts of

ethnic minorities, and 131，300，000 copies of those newspaper are printed in each

year, there are also 223 kinds of periodicals with the annual circulation of 7，810，000

copies; At present, there are 32 presses that can publish the books with ethnic minorities’ scripts, those presses, accounting 5.4% of the total presses in China, distribute in 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities under the direction of

3

the State Council. Those presses publish over 50 million copies of books in more than 4,000 kinds with over 20 scripts of the Mongolian, the Tibetan the Uyghur, the

Kazakh，the Korean, the Yi, the Zhuang, the Xibo (Sib), he Kirkz，the Dai, the Jingbo,

the Lisu, the Wa, the Lahu, the Hani, the Miao and the Naxi ethnics, etcii.

With regard to cultural activities, heritage protection and continuity: By 2006, there have been 9,658 culture institutes, 513 art performance teams (69 of which are ensembles of nationalities) and 188 art performance sites at the autonomous areas of ethnic minorities; There have been 163 museums, 81 folk art galleries, 642 houses of culture and 6,894 culture stationsiii. Since China signed the Convention of UNESCO Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritages in 1985, the Potala Palace (in Lhasa, Tibet) and the Old Town of Lijiang (Yunnan Province) and the Dongba Ancient Documents were listed in the schedule of “Memory of the World” iii; in 2004, China had signed the International Convention on the Protection for Intangible Cultural Heritages and in the next year, the 12-Mukam of Uyghur and the Mongolian long-tune folk songs are listed by the UNESCO as the typical works of the third lot of “Oral and Non-Material Cultural Heritages of Human.”

2. Educational Policies. In 2006, there have been 116 HIEs at the autonomous regions of ethnic minorities in China and 1.0655 students studying and living in those HIEs, accounting for 6.19% of the total boarders of the whole country. For the time being, over 100 HIEs in 17 provinces or autonomous regions (those HIEs are under the jurisdiction of 6 departments and committees of the State Council) have established the preliminary study class or special class for ethnic minorities and over 20,000 students are admitted in those classes in each year. The students of ethnic minorities at the frontier and remote areas may enjoy the right to preferential admission in the same condition or admission at lower scores against other students. In addition, there are 300 primary and junior middle schools have been established in Tibet under the aiding by 18 provinces or cities, 23 HIEs and other enterprises or institutes, and the 50 model senior high schools at 28 cities in 12 provinces have set up the special class for students from Xinjiang autonomous region. The Xinjiang students are 13,600 in number and almost all of them can study at the inland HIEs when they graduate from the above classes.

Higher Education: In 2006, there were 51,400 postgraduates of ethnic minorities in the HIEs, accounting for 4.65% of the total postgraduates in China.

Bilingual Education. In consideration of the particular situation, China’s education system accommodates the bilingual education of multi-kinds. China has compiled the bilingual textbooks that are suitable to the students of different ethnic minorities by organizing the minorities’ teachers at different places. There have been over 18,000 minorities’ teachers who are capable to teach bilingually in Xinjiang autonomous region, and there are 150,000 students of minorities in 5,000 bilingual teaching classes in totaliv.

Conclusion: The above policies are arranged to help the ethnic minorities approach actual equality from the legal definition. Although great effect has been obtained, there

4

are more and more challenges concerning the ethnic minorities in practice. Those challenges include the problems concerning the diversified interior demands of the ethnic minorities and the link with the demands in the employment market after those students obtained the education opportunities according to the affirmative actions.

II. Cause Analysis

It is assumed in this Paper that China’s policies for safeguarding the rights and interest of the ethnic minorities to culture and education are in correct direction and the measures adopted by the government are forceful, too. However, due to the complex state situation, the social vicissitude and the highly complex demands of the ethnic minorities, it is necessary for China to meet problems in implementing those policies. Therefore, there is still large space for China to innovating and improving those policies. Since China has attached great importance to the policies of assisting the ethnic minorities to develop economy, and the cultural policies can be made by referring to the advanced experiences in the world and the international practices, this Paper only covers the educational policies and their implementation.

(I) Problems in Practice1. Cultural Continuity of Ethnic with Small Population in Face of Challenges

In China, he government plays a significant role in the tight control over the ethnic minorities’ areas. However, the policies are implemented subject to the overall strength of the local ethnic minorities. In such circumstances, the policies, as far as the national education is concerned, can benefit the individuals only while overlook cultural demand of the groups, which, as a result, challenges the cultural continuity. Furthermore, the development of the cultures of ethnic minorities in some area is incented strongly by the benefits, therefore, the relevant policies and measures adopted by the governments are designed to accelerate the development of the local tourism economy, and the development and protection policies and measures are only for the selected cultures of the ethnic minorities, which leads to the failure to protect the cultures that are not selected, and the individuals and non-governmental organizations are unable to do what they want to do in the activities of cultural protection; at the same time, the cultural development that is incented by benefits increase the risks of the abnormal local vicissitudes of culture and mankind; therefore, the cultures of the ethnic minorities, instead of being duly carried forward, are confined by hidden means to a narrow space.

2. Preferential Educational Policyv in Face of Wide Doubts

i Source: Zhou Yi – Annotations (continued).ii Data is provided by the joint investigation and study team of ethnic cultures, State Commission of Ethnic Affairs.iii Source: Investigation & Study Report on Status Quo and Prospect of Ethnic Minorities in China, provided by the theme team of Station Commission of Ethnic Affairs.iv Source: Policies on Ethnic Education, document of the State Commission of Ethnic Affairs in 2008.v The preferential educational policy is similar to the affirmative action in education.

5

First, the preferential educational policies are difficult in maneuvering: the policies of adding extra scores for students of ethnic minorities in the admission examinations are in controversy for there is no a uniform standard of score adding, therefore, the policies in different ethnic minorities’ areas are of remarkable difference. For instance, whether the same score shall be given to the candidates both in urban and rural areas; or the candidates of the same ethnic minorities, when living in different areas, shall be given the extra scores subject to the local standards or the ethnic categories? Is it right to add the same extra scores for students in different areas, and how to measure the stride or standards so that the policies for extra scores doesn’t deviate its original objective to pursuit of legal confirmation, etc.

Second, the educational policy of adding extra scores for students of ethnic minorities, while narrowing down the educational levels at the ethnic areas, also leads to the educational inequality in the same conditions. On the one hand, the policy has changed to a great extent the inequality of the candidates of ethnic minorities in receiving education due to the intrinsic conditions, made up the defect that proportion of candidates at the ethnic areas who are admitted by the schools of higher grade was at low level due to the poor teaching conditions and facilities, and provided opportunities for the ethnic candidates whose Chinese is poor to receive the equal education; on the other hand, the policy also leads the educational inequality to the ethnic candidates at urban area, part of Han Chinese candidates and the other part of ethnic candidates at the ethnic areas, because the educational scale will be unbalanced to another end in the condition the ethnic candidates who, instead of receiving poor education, have the equal competitiveness in the admission are still conferred with the extra scores due to their ethnic identification according to the affirmative action, such cases are not in compliance with the educational equality de facto.

Third, the bilingual education policy, while increasing the opportunities for the ethnic children in receiving the national education, will bring the adverse influence to the continuity of the traditional knowledge of the ethnic minorities. In case the prevailing system of national education is still confined to the same mode and fails to adopt to large extent the cultural contents and means of ethnic minorities as the basis of the education for ethnic minorities, the cultural tradition of ethnic minorities will, as a result, separate from the carriers, and the continuity of ethnic minorities’ cultural traditions are only in talk, or those traditions will be turned into the rare products that are divorced from the entities through which the culture survives and develops and for ornament only. In addition, the differences in contents and means of cultural education between different generations will also result in the greater value conflicts among the members of different generations in the ethnic families.

Four, the educational preference is delinked with the employment market. The implementation of educationally affirmative actions increase the opportunities of the ethnic students in receiving the higher education, and therefore, the proportion of college students of ethnic minorities has been greatly improved. Despite that the ethnical students majoring in the humanities are still in greater proportion, the ratio of the ethnic students studying at higher schools and the educational level of the ethnic

6

students are greatly improved as a whole. However, while the ethnic students increasing in number; the employment of those students becomes more and more challengeable due to the due to the fierce competition in the market economic system. Although China has issued the policies and measures asking the governmental departments, institutes and the large- and medium-sized state owned enterprises (SOE) to employ the ethnic students in the same conditions, asking the state authorities to establish more posts for ethnic staff, those policies and measures play an insignificant role in mitigating the employment difficulty for the ethnic graduates due to the increase in the their number and in the competitiveness in the whole of China.

(II) Cause Analysis1. Assumption by Economists

As China’s existing policies for safeguarding the rights and interests of the ethnic minorities are centered at the economic construction, the development at the ethnic minorities’ areas is stressed on the economic development and growth, and the main measure is to promote the developments of the ethnic autonomous areas in the aspects of economy and social security, etc. through the governmental investment to improve the living standard and the distributable income per capita at those areas. Those policies and arrangements, as the consequence of the idea of the Chinese government that targets the social development, will necessarily stress on the development of the ethnic minorities from the current backwardness and poverty to a higher one. The development herein refers to the one according which the economic indicator is strengthened while the cultural indicator is weakened and the significance of the soft force of culture to the development is overlooked. China’s policies for safeguarding the rights and interests of ethnic minorities, if assessed according to the economic indicators, have seen the remarkable effects, which are represented in the aspects of political rights, economic development, social security, cultural development and protection as well as education. However, the assessment standard that stresses on the economic indicators cannot fully satisfy in the practice the demand of the ethnic minorities for the culture and ethics, those policies, if culturally measured, still have space for improvement in the aspect of cultural development in particular.

2. How to handle the relationship between individual development and cultural continuity of ethnic groups

Case: “Gains” and “losses” of bilingual education carried out at ethnic areas

Background: China began the pilot experiment of bilingual education at the ethnic minorities’ areas in 1980s and such education was widely carried out at the ethnic areas in 1990s, and schools were established for bilingual education at this period. In recent years, the bilingual education has been publicized at the autonomous areas in Xinjiang and Tibet, etc. and gradually become the significant part of the ethnic minorities’ education system. There are three ethnic bilingual education in China: The first type of bilingual teaching is dominated by the language of ethnic minorities and complemented with Chinese; the second type is dominated by Chinese and complemented by the ethnic language; while the third is dominated by the ethnic language at lower grade and shifted

7

to the one that is dominated by Chinese at higher grade. The bilingual education is to achieve communications between ethnic groups through teaching Chinese and maintain the continuity of the ethnic language and culture. However, the bilingual education system is still within the framework of the national education system and fails to be filled with ethnic cultures both in contents and means. Therefore, the continuity of the ethnic cultures are not maintained as expected through the national education system.

(1) Voice of local governments: The bilingual education both in ethnic language and in Chinese that publicized in the primary and middle schools has seen good teaching effect and it is the best way to develop the mentality of the ethnic children for it eliminates the language barrier, increase their interests with study and improve the teaching quality, and thus increasing the ratios of children admitted in primary schools and of students studying at higher level schoolsvi.

(2) View of anthropologists: The modern society is a harmonious era in which people is in priority. Our existing so-called education has many problems, For instance, the major culture is widely accepted and the weak cultures have to subject to it. Is it good on earth to carry out the cultural recognition and integration, we don’t mean that we need no education, instead, what kind of education we need. The creatures are diversified, so are the cultures, as an anthropologist, our mission is to protect the cultural heritage of mankind and maintain the diversification of the human culturevii.

(3) The generation growing in the bilingual education system: Students receiving the bilingual education in 1980s have had work or are receiving the higher education. For those ethnic students especially them fully received the Chinese education, it is difficult to find the signs of their own culture from them, they can participate in the fair competition in the national public systems for higher education or employment, but the are hardly to obtain the spiritual satisfaction from their own cultures. The ethnic cultures, to those receiving the bilingual education, are only the sign of ethnic identification, they cannot find proud or self-esteem from the continuity of their ethnic cultures. It is the contents and means of the national education system that take those ethnic students on the simplified way to socialization. The ethic and knowledge systems contained in the traditional ethnic education system have been gradually replaced by the national education system in terms of the cultural continuity.

III. Suggestions on Innovation Activities:

From social development history to cultural Ecology

1. In aspect of idea: Drive the shift of Majority’s Idea in Society from preference to mutual benefits

Cultural Ecology is the core idea of China’s policies of safeguarding the rights and

vi Source: Policies on Ethnic Education, provided by the Research Office of State Commission of Ethnic Affairs.vii Refer to http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_44990d8b010006in.html, in 2006.

8

interests of ethnic minorities

It is the lofty objectives of the social and cultural developments of the mankind to advocate the diversified zoologies and cultures, the right before which all cultures are in equal and fair continuity, and ethnic groups can understand and communicate with each other, and promote the reciprocal respect and appreciation. The core idea that guides China’s policies of safeguarding the rights and interests of ethnic minorities will see a historic turn, a shift from the social development history to the cultural ecology, from linear forward to co-existence of multi-elements, from the stage social driving to the cultural progress hand in hand, from the preference to mutual benefits so that the different cultures can be complemented each other.

Unless the Chinese government accepts the development idea that is guided by cultural ecology, can it make more policies to protect the continuity of ethnic minorities’ cultural systems in formulating and adjusting the policies of safeguarding the ethnic rights and interest, and can the ethnic cultures have more space of surviving and developing. The diversified ethnic cultures have been co-existed for thousand years in China and generated the diversified biological culture and knowledge system in the multiple ecological conditions, they are the significant experience for and heritage of the cultural protection and development of mankind.

2. In aspect of system: To build the fair competition mechanism and complete the autonomous region law so as to ensure objectively and subjectively the fair continuity of the ethnic cultures and traditional knowledge.

Education is the necessary means to accomplish the people’s shift from the social culture idea to the cultural e cology.

It is impossible to change the people’s idea overnight; instead, people who stick their own view shall have enough communication and coordination before they reach an agreement. Education is another important means to change the idea, and the agreement, as the expression of the intentions of all parties thereto, represents the negotiation capability of the knowledge agents. However, the education has an obvious value orientation as it is based on the cultural personalities; people will be kind if they are taught to be, or be evil with evil learning, therefore, it is successful education if the people become kind through education.

The value idea of China’s policies for safeguarding the ethnic rights and internets arises from education system of the social development history, once such idea is unsuitable to the surviving and continuity of the ethnic cultures, it is necessary to shift the idea through education so that the idea is shifted to the cultural ecology. To complete the existing educational system in China and shift the idea of majority is the basic condition, objective and task to promote the shift to the cultural ecology through education. It is the priority in the educational reform and shift of the major idea to enrich the education with the cultures, knowledge and ethic system of the ethnic minorities both in terms of contents and means.

Actions are the decisive factor in achieving the paradigm shift to cultural e cology

9

People socialization is the nature of education, either in ancient time or in nowadays, the functions of education can be generalized in two aspects, that is, for groups, to deliver the culture and knowledge (including both living and production knowledge) and to foster the complete personalities of individuals so that the individuals can learn the surviving and living skills in the environment of certain social cultures to keep the individuals in living. In modern society, the education is not for brainwashing, instead, it turns the people from the unconscious state to the conscious one, therefore, education is not to use the same mould to manufacture the products for sale, nor are the educational institutes the plants for manufacturing products, nor is the education system the ISO9001 Standard that is used for manufacture the qualified products.

The idea is shifted through the concrete actions, on the one hand, bringing the traditional culture and knowledge systems of ethnic minorities into play in fostering the perfect individual personalities, list the traditional culture and knowledge in the framework of national education by setting up the courses of those cultures and knowledge and attach importance to those courses in fostering talents, and the traditional cultures, in turn, will be passed down to the next generation naturally, which is a cultural continuity achieved by the official systematic education instead of the family education, however, the role of the culture delivering in family shall not be overlooked, those actions are to create the eco-environment for the cultural tradition; on the other hand, the impact of the modernization is just like the flood of Nile River that is praised and blamed at the same time, what’s more, the cultural groups and individuals, as the subject of the culture delivery, will not accept such destiny, in steed, they will have some hints to extend the life of the traditional culture and knowledge from the system delivered by the upper generation, which is not only a process of adapting and innovating, but a process of continuously recognizing the idea of cultural bionomics.

The foothold of the actions shifting the idea is to build a platform for joint discussion and negotiation to obtain the best one through competition among subjects other than to design the best framework to rein the so-called objects. It is necessary that the fair and equal exchange platform must be guaranteed by the laws, To further complete the autonomy law in China’s areas where the ethnic minorities gather according to the particular situations and formulate the other workable laws and regulations, such as the anti-discrimination law, etc. those laws are fundamental to guarantee the shift to the cultural ecology as the agreement with laws and rules are the important strategy to protect the diversified ethnic cultures.

3. In aspect of community: Grant powers to the grassroots communities at the ethnic areas to encourage those communities to initiatively participate in the project aids and decision making

The government and NGO play a significant role in cultural building and educational improvement at the grassroots communities

The central government has launched a lot of kinds of aiding projects in the depressed ethnic areas and appropriated special funds to support them, in which, the project concerning cultural protection and continuity and education are in a great proportion.

10

However, those projects will be carried out through the communities, which, as the basic unit in the culture and education system, are also the significant carriers of cultural protection and continuity. In the past time, the assistance is conducted in the upper-to-lower mode, according to which, the government at higher level would grant the assistance preference to the communities according to the project requirements and such assistance would then be delivered to the individual families. Unlike the governments, the non-governmental organizations (NGO) pay a greater attention to the participation of the communities, pay heed to bringing the initiative of the residents at grassroots communities into play during implementing the projects. Therefore, the NGO has the capability to reproduce the assistance for the projects. However, both the governments and NGOs overlook the functions of the local cultural knowledge and tradition in constructing the community culture and education system, both of them have the actions regardless to the fact whether the cultural value orientation they advocated to meet the demand of the residents for the conceptual cultural and education system at the communities, therefore, both of them are in the fixed mode lack of reflection.

A shift shall be made to construct the suitable local culture and education systems from the assistance projects of the governments and NGOs on the basis of the local culture and education system at the ethnic areas to bring the advantages of local culture and knowledge system and the initiative of the communities into play, which is not only a process to grant powers to the grassroots communities at the ethnic areas by encouraging the local residents to actively to participate in decision making, but also the one to promote the ethnic minorities to have awareness with the ethnic culture and education systems at these communities and recognize the significance of the community culture and education systems to the survival and development of each community members.

Conclusion & Expectation

The ultimate objective of China’s policies for safeguarding the rights and interests of ethnic minorities is to keep the cultural diversification

The cultural diversification shall not be maintained only in consideration of its utilization, nor shall the cultural diversification is kept for the reason that those cultures may be useful in the future although they are useless at present. The nature creates a diversified world for mankind, people find funs in lives from the differences and diversification of the mankind instead of the copied faces made by the copycat, so that they don’t feel along or dull. Thanks to the differences and diversification, people can express their feelings, communicate, coordinate and appreciate with each other, and the development of mankind is full of dynamics and humanities. To encourage to maintenance for the cultural diversification is not only the ultimate objective of China’s policies concerning rights and interests of ethnic minorities but the final way for mankind to achieve the welfare.

11