The Education of Minorities

Abstract

development of minority nationalities (shaoshu minzu) is an important problem on the way towards the 'Four Modernisations' in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Education in a broad sense is one of the necessary prerequisites to the achievement of technological and cultural changes. At first glance it may seem that 6-7% of the population of the PRC cannot be of great importance for the whole country, in contrast to the situation in the Soviet Union where the proportion of non-Russian nationalities is more than 47-7%. But there are at least five reasons why the political, social, economic and cultural development of shaoshu minzu in China is a great and complex problem for both sides, the Han or majority and the 55 recognised minority nationalities [1]. 1. New China News Agency (Xinhua News Agency) issued on October 27, 1982, the official communique in English on major statistics of China's third census since the foundation of the PRC. Concerning the population of the nationalities we read: The Han nationality population is 936,703,824, accounting for 93-3% of the total, and the minority nationalities' population is 67,233,254, making up 6-7%. Compared with the figure of the second census in 1964, the Han nationality population has increased by 285,407,456 or 43-8% and the population of the minority nationalities has increased by 27,309,518 or 68-4%. Of the 53 (sic) minority nationalities in the 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, those with a population of more than 1,000,000 have increased from 10 in 1964 to the present 15 (FE/7168, 28 October 1982) [2]. absolute figure of more than 67 million people of the minority nationalities on July 1, 1982 or at least 70 million in 1984 is no negligible quantity as compared with the 56 million population of Great Britain. multicultural horizon, especially as a question of education, is comparable in size to the problems concerning foreigners in the Federal Republic of Germany. In the PRC there now live 6-7% belonging to minority nationalities; in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin the proportion of foreigners with permanent residence is approximately 7-2% of the whole population. 2. Chinese authorities attributed the greater increase of minority nationalities in comparison with the Han nationality to many factors. main factor is the sharp decline in the death rate resulting from improved medical services and better living conditions. An interesting fact, especially among the Manchu, Tujia and Dong nationalities, is that some minority nationality people for the first time during this third census reported their real nationality; they had previously registered as of Han nationality. Experts of the National People's Congress Nationalities Committee and the State Nationalities Affairs Commission commented on this fact: After correcting 'Left' mistakes, the Party's nationality policy has won their confidence (FE/7174, 4 November 1982). Xinhua News Agency added to these