Ostatnia lekcja mongolskiego. Reforma edukacji mniejszościowej w Chinach
The last lesson of Mongolian. Reform of minority education in China

Summary/Abstract: In 2020, minority education reform was announced in Inner Mongolia (an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China). Few observers outside of China seemed to understand the area and the significance of these changes, but public attention was captured by the massive, and eye-catching, protests by the Mongolian population. As a result of the extinction of Mongolian-language education, the last year of Mongolian-educated graduates graduated in 2024, as well as the last round of Mongolian-language university examinations was taken. The process of extinguishing minority education in China has received relatively little analysis in the scholarly literature, which has also focused mainly on linguistic and anthropological issues, and less on political and educational ones. The Mongols are one of China's model minorities in terms of integration into the state and society, having historically extensive minority education. As a largely bilingual nationality, they embodied social cohesion with the majority group and success in protecting their own language and culture. It can be hypothesised that Mongolian education has supported the educational development of students, as well as their academic progress. The paper will present empirical research (own and that of other researchers) to help verify the above claim. The pretext for switching to Chinese as the medium of instruction was said to be the lower educational level of ethnic minorities and the risk of separatism. Has there been such a necessity in the case of Mongolians? Are these changes reflected in pedagogical knowledge regarding the language of instruction of minorities? Are Mongolian children educated in Chinese likely to perform better in the future?

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