The law states that children should be taught Mandarin before kindergarten, until the end of high school.

China has approved a sweeping new law which claims to help promote “ethnic unity” - but critics say it will further erode the rights of minority groups.

On paper, it aims to promote integration among the 56 officially recognised ethnic groups, dominated by the Han Chinese, through education and housing. But critics say it cuts people off from their language and culture.

It mandates that all children should be taught Mandarin before kindergarten and up until the end of high school. Previously students could study most of the curriculum in their native language such as Tibetan, Uyghur or Mongolian.

  • blady_blah@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1011·
    12 hours ago

    Actually don’t have a problem with this. I think all countries should have one primary language that is used across the entire country and that everyone in the country knows the language.

    No, I’m not saying you should suppress the native languages or do things like only allow that language to be used in government offices, but for schooling and general communication, I think it’s best if everyone in the country is using one language. That helps keep everyone linked culturally, which is a crucial part of having a unified country.

    • Tangent5280@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      11 hours ago

      Only works in tiny countries with a monoculture. In which case it becomes irrelevant.

      I can honestly say with some confidence that I can narrow down the set of countries that you might be from, just from this one comment of yours. No one who has lived in any kind of diverse-culture environment could espouse a brain dead take like this.

      Also, when your government mandates something like this, you can be sure its not going to be your language that is being forced on you.

      EDIT: Ah, nevermind - I just read through your comment a few more times and I think you have a valid position to defend - I think even the most diverse countries have like one or two official languages and a host of other languages.

      EDIT 2: Problem with having an official language for schooling is that it immediately disadvantages every other language simply because children spend 8 hours in school with this “official” language. Considering there is little hope of full fluency in a foreign language after formal education, it will slowly push out any cultural languages.