MAQU, Gansu, June 28 -- In the eyes of many Tibetan herders, their children's Tibetan language skills may be a matter of cultural heritage, but their Mandarin skills are directly tied to jobs and prosperity.

Dzamla, a mother of six in Maqu county, Gansu province, said she often told her children to study Mandarin in order to find good jobs.

"Look at me. I don't know how to go around the central town because I can't speak Mandarin," said Dzamla.

She is among 30,000 former nomads that have settled in and around the town proper in Maqu since 2004. Over the years, nearly 1 million herders across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have settled or relocated to prevent the ecological degradation of the grassland. These former nomads who have found it difficult to assimilate into life in town pin their hopes for a better future on their children's education, especially Mandarin studies.

Maqu sits at the borders of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan provinces, and is part of the sprawling Tibetan-populated grassland traditionally referred to as the Amdo region. Most herders here speak only Ambo dialect, a tongue incomprehensible even to those in Tibet autonomous region.

"It really takes two generations for the traditional nomadic families to settle down and adapt to their new life," said a county publicity official surnamed Li. "The older generation wants their children to at least speak Mandarin so they can find high-paying jobs in town."

Dzamla and her family moved into Tashilemin village, a nomad settlement community on the outskirts of Maqu's main town Nyma, seven years ago. Hindered by a lack of education and language ability, the family depends on the meager income of Dzamla's husband who works in a market trading cow hides.

Two of the six children with best school performances now study in the provincial capital Lanzhou and the city of Hezuo, respectively. "They can speak good Mandarin, and as they want to study outside the rural Tibetan areas, we are very supportive," Dzamla said.

SEE THE WORLD

A team from Minzu University of China conducted research on the community of settled herders in Maqu in 2008, and found that a significant number of families agreed to the settlement program primarily for the children's education. Indeed, most settlement communities are comprised of the elderly and school children, while adults continue herding on the grassland.

"Their goal is clear. They want their children to go to school and have more options later in life," said Su Faxiang, an ethnology professor with the university and the leader of the research team.

Maqu Tibetan Middle School, the only six-year middle school in Maqu, has seen enrollment climb steadily -- from 400 in 2003 to 1,844 this year. Zhao Wujiu, the school chancellor, said that new students are healthier and speak better Mandarin each year.

Jigshika, 16, a fluent Mandarin speaker, said he learned the language by watching a lot of cartoons on TV -- all Mandarin-dubbed foreign hits like "Ultraman."

"I like cartoons," he said. "Besides, my parents often remind me that if I want a good job, I should learn Mandarin well."

Despite the expanded coverage of the broadcasting network, many Tibetan children in rural areas have little chance to explore the world outside the grassland.

Most Maqu Tibetan Middle School students said during the interview that they wanted to go to college outside of the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, in order to see the world.

Drolmatsao, a third-year student of Maqu Tibetan Middle School, said she wants to go to college in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and her parents have been very supportive.

"The nomads' children used to be discouraged from attending school, but not anymore. The mindset of the Tibetan herders has fundamentally changed," said Ngnanchuig, deputy head of Dari county in Qinghai province. "In addition to gaining knowledge, rural Tibetan kids are getting the chance to explore the world."

NO CHANGE IN TIBETAN CURRICULUM

"Tibetans need to learn Mandarin in order to better communicate with the outside world," said Gonchekya, a researcher with the Academy of Social Sciences in Tibet autonomous region. "Increased study of Mandarin will enrich, rather than undermine, the Tibetan language."

He said the booms of the Tibetan language throughout history were all linked to the language's extensive interaction with Mandarin. As early as the seventh century, literature on science, medicine, religion and politics was being translated from Mandarin to Tibetan. These translations contributed greatly to the development of Tibetan language and culture, Gonchekya said.

Meanwhile, the government has also vowed to protect the language and culture of ethnic minorities.

Since the late 1980s, schools in Tibetan areas have been divided into two main categories in terms of language education -- Mandarin schools where courses are taught in Mandarin and Tibetan schools where courses are taught in Tibetan. Mandarin schools have a Tibetan language component in their curriculum, and vice versa.

Maqu Tibetan Middle School, like other middle schools in rural Tibetan areas, is a Tibetan school and the only middle school in the county. Ethnic Han residents in Maqu have to send their children to Mandarin boarding schools about a three-hour drive away in the city of Hezuo.

Education authorities of Gannan said there will be no change in the bilingual education systems, denying plans to shift some of the Tibetan curriculum to Mandarin. Officials say even though rural Tibetan children have shown increased enthusiasm for Mandarin studies, their language ability remains poor compared to students in non-Tibetan regions.

Replacing Tibetan schools with Mandarin schools will cause a large number of drop-outs, the officials have warned.

Zhao, chancellor of Maqu Tibetan Middle School, brushed off the possibility of a change in the way of teaching.

"Maqu is poor, the weather extremely rough and the teachers' pay low. Even educated local Tibetans are reluctant to teach," Zhao said. "If all the courses should be taught in Mandarin, where are we going to recruit the Mandarin-speaking teachers?"

Instructing the children to study both Mandarin and Tibetan, Zhao said he often quoted the late 10th Panchen Lama as saying, "Mandarin and Tibetan are like the two wings of a Tibetan student. If you want to fly, you can't lose either."