Boarding schools promote educational equity in China's plateau regions: experts

Students review moves of Tibetan opera at Lhasa No. 2 secondary vocational and technical school in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Sept. 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida)

CHENGDU, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- At an international seminar held on Monday in China's Chengdu, experts highlighted that the boarding school system has contributed to the equity and high-quality development of education in China's plateau regions, offering valuable insights for the international community.

The International Academic Seminar on Boarding Education and Plateau Development was held in the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. It brought together experts and scholars from various countries, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, to exchange views on boarding education.

Boarding schools in Xizang have evolved as an educational model that respects ethnic culture and adapts to the region's unique geographical conditions. With strong state support, they have become a vital method of enhancing educational quality and equity, said Zhalo, a researcher at the China Tibetology Research Center.

At the seminar, many experts said that boarding education is not only improving accessibility and teaching quality but also fostering interaction and integration among different ethnic groups.

Michael Alan Crook, president of International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, has visited boarding schools in Xizang. He noted that students in these schools enjoy good living conditions and the mixed enrollment of students from different ethnic groups promotes mutual understanding.

Crook recalled that he saw Tibetan and Han students studying, singing and dancing together.

"I listened to a fifth-grade Tibetan language class. These boarding schools are preserving the culture rather than destroying it," Crook said.

He emphasized that while boarding schools in Western countries often cater to elite or wealthy families, China's state-run boarding school system primarily serves ordinary households, with substantial government subsidies enabling students from remote areas to access quality education.

Boarding schools in China provide not only education but also shelter, food, guidance and stability, especially in rural and remote regions, helping create a more disciplined and structured learning environment that supports academic success, said Mario Eugence Cavolo from Center for China and Globalization.