dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMEducationEducation is another difficult area for Uyghurs. Entering university isespecially difficult for two main reasons. Firstly, a very small quota is allotted tothe Uyghurs from each city in East Turkistan. Secondly, the university fees arebeyond most people’s income, which results in many cases of students abandoninghigher education and returning to the field, following in their parent’s footsteps.There are cases where parents have been forced to sell their belongings to helpcover education fees for their children; in short, they sacrifice everything withintheir capacity to extricate their children from the continually back-breaking fieldwork. Unfortunately, many students end up without jobs, even after successfullyhaving completed their studies.Schools and studentsThe school facilities for the Uyghurs are very different from the schools forthe Han Chinese. Learning materials are inadequate, the school buildings arein poor condition, and adequate heating facilities are not available during thewinter, when the temperature dips to below zero. Students have to bring firewoodor coal during the winter to heat the classrooms. During the summer, they haveto work on the farms, or pick cotton or other labour-intensive agricultural work.In the villages, students perform more physical tasks than studying. During theschool days, the students have to bring their own food and arrange their owntransportation.Workers and employeesIt is very hard for Uyghurs to find a job. Moreover, finding a job that is basedon their qualifications with no connections or resorting to bribery is almostimpossible. Chinese companies explicitly say “we don’t accept Uyghurs” and thegovernment takes no action to uphold its equal opportunity law. In any publicoffice, the majority of workers are Han Chinese and they hold higher positionswith better salaries. In short, equal opportunity essentially does not exist inEast Turkistan. In addition, maintaining a job is another problem for Uyghuremployees. Many restrictions are placed, such as not being able to carry out theirreligious duties, abiding by the family planning laws, etc. In the last few years thegovernment have imposed the Chinese language as another condition. Employees424