| This qualitative study discusses the educational challenges facing members of ethnic minority groups in the People's Republic of China and the preferential policies implemented by the Chinese government to address these challenges. The study explores the manifestation of China's higher educational policies for ethnic minorities in one academic setting, the Central University for Nationalities (CUN) in Beijing, a microcosm of the complexities surrounding educating China's minorities. While a goal of the university is to promote ethnic unity and a sense of Chinese patriotism, it simultaneously fosters a sense of individual ethnic identity, which may not be in line with official goals.; China has 55 officially recognized minority groups, representing approximately 110 million people and up to 100 different mother tongues. Chinese minority children tend to have higher dropout rates from school and higher illiteracy rates than do the majority Han Chinese children. In China, decreasing these educational gaps is viewed as a means to facilitate economic development in minority areas, and to promote ethnic stability. Preferential policies include university admissions quotas for minority students with lower entrance exam scores, and nationalities institutes such as CUN that are specifically designed for educating minority students.; Because of inadequate basic education, many minority students have poor Mandarin language skills when they arrive at CUN. As a result they are tracked into a minority language and literature major at the university, where they are segregated from other ethnic groups on the university campus. These students have a rich appreciation of their own ethnic identity, but their higher education and professional opportunities are much more limited, and their assimilation into mainstream Chinese society is slower.; Minority students who have been educated in Mandarin Chinese throughout their school years may be able to benefit from preferential admissions policies at more prestigious universities, but they are also likely to be segregated from their own ethnic group. This complexity has the potential to lead to an anti-Chinese sentiment, and thus presents a policy dilemma for the Chinese government. Implications from this study are drawn for more general problems related to the education of minorities in China and elsewhere. |
