THE USE OF ETHNOPEDAGOGICAL TRADITIONS IN THE MODERN EDUCATIONAL POLICY OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Background. Linguistic policy in Chinese education plays a central role in shaping the country's linguistic landscape, promoting Putonghua, known as Standard Mandarin/Mandarin Chinese, as the official language, while comprising a variety of regional dialects and minority languages. This policy is fundamental to ensure the linguistic unity of this huge nation, preserve cultural heritage and improve communication in a country with a population of more than 1.4 billion residents. Understanding China's language education strategy is necessary to comprehend the complexities of its national identity, educational challenges and to understand the balance between standardization and cultural diversity. Purpose. To identify the specifics and application conditions of ethnopedagogical traditions in the modern education system of the People's Republic of China. Materials and methods. This article uses such empirical methods as a comprehensive comparison of fundamental legislative documents, namely the Constitutions of the People's Republic of China, the Education Laws of the People's Republic of China, an analysis of the works of domestic and foreign scientists on the topic of research, as well as such complex methods as analysis and synthesis of the obtained data, the main results of which are reflected in the conclusions. Results. The authors have outlined the basic principles of language policy in modern education in the People's Republic of China, which consist in promoting Putonghua as the language of national unity and cultural identity of the Chinese people, which can be traced through all legislative norms regulating educational relations within the country. The regulations consolidating the structure and functions of the educational system clearly define the main mechanism of transmission of ethnopedagogical traditions of peoples — their language and writing, which allow preserving and developing the culture of each ethnic group. Although bilingual education has been enforced as a right in several legislative acts, in the modern educational structure, is not fully implemented in practice and tends to reduce opportunities for implementation. EDN: RGUGPE