Ethnic education in a broad sense refers to the process of inheriting ethnic culture and introducing, digesting and absorbing foreign culture; Ethnic education in a narrow sense refers to the education of cultural knowledge of ethnic minorities. In the final analysis, ethnic education is a question of "human rights", that is, the right to equal education. At the same time, ethnic education is also a social issue, and at a deeper level, it is a political issue. There are 56 ethnic groups in China, and the education of ethnic groups is inseparable from the stability of the country. The purpose of ethnic education is not only to let the children of ethnic minorities enter the mainstream society, but more importantly, to cultivate a large number of ethnic knowledge groups through education, to implement the party's line, principles and policies through these groups, to spread scientific and technological knowledge, and to inherit national culture, so as to maintain border stability and national unity.

Due to various historical and practical reasons, the education of ethnic minorities in China has the following characteristics: 1. The development of national education is still very uneven; 2. There are few schools, and the management of curriculum and academic system is not completely unified; 3. There are differences in the form of running a school and the language used in teaching.