国内英语资讯:Educational situation in Chinas Xinjiang much improved: scholar

KATHMANDU, April 19 -- A German scholar has recently found that the right to education for Uygurs and people of other ethnic groups is well protected in China's Xinjiang region, as young people there enjoy increasingly better opportunities.

Michael Heinrich, who has been teaching German in Minzu University of China for more than five years, said in an article published on Online Khabar news website in March that he has "paid close attention to the development of Chinese education in recent years, especially the education situation in ethnic minority areas."

Heinrich said he has taught a Xinjiang Uygur student, who often talks with him about the education situation in her hometown and appreciates government policies on education.

The Uygur student has told Heinrich that she lives in a place where she receives Islamic religious education and China's nine-year compulsory education, and the Uygur students in Xinjiang can enjoy preferential policies, such as extra points in college entrance examination, special policies for college admissions, and employment policy support.

In recent years, the Chinese government has intensified policy support on education in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and increased investment in educational resources, especially those on vocational education, the article read.

"Through vocational education, more Uyghur Muslim students can enhance their survival skills and work harder by themselves and improve their living standards with these hands," it said.

For some time, Xinjiang has been plagued by terrorism, religious extremism and separatism, according to the passage, and carrying out vocational education and training in Xinjiang is an effective measure to promote the rule of law and a practical action to protect the vital interests of people of all ethnic groups there.

It is also a just move in fighting extremism and terrorism to contribute to the stability in Xinjiang, it added.

Some Western media outlets as well as some U.S. politicians often slander the Chinese government under the guise of "human rights," which does not only disregard the facts but also interferes with China's sovereignty, Heinrich pointed out.

The situation in Xinjiang that they saw was completely different from the stories told by some Western politicians and media, Heinrich quoted some people who have visited Xinjiang and witnessed its development as saying.

The rights to life and development of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are protected to the largest extent, Heinrich added.