Modern Education System Fundamentally Established in Tibet

Thanks to the full implementation of the strategy of giving priority to education work, recent years has seen rapid development in education system in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

By the end of 1999, 83.4% of the schooling children in Tibet entered school for education. Tibet has thus achieved one year ahead of the schedule the strategic goal, in which "every county has middle schools, every township primary schools, and 80% of schooling children have the chance to receive education in school."

A modern socialist education system featuring the Tibetan nationality has basically been established in Tibet with tens of thousands of professionals and cadres fostered. By now there are over 4,000 schools of various kinds at different levels in Tibet, of which 820 are primary schools, 3033 teaching centers, over 110 middle and vocational schools, 4 colleges, with more than 360,000 students studying in middle and primary schools. An all round education system has been set up to provide education for children at different levels in kindergarten, primary and middle schools, as well as colleges for both youngsters and adults.

Meanwhile, the quality of more than 19,000 teachers, consisting mainly of Tibetans, has also been improved steadily. Up to now, the percentage of educationally qualified teachers has respectively reached 67%, 77%, and 65% in primary schools, junior and senior middle schools.

With the emphasis laid on basic education, the Tibet Autonomous Region has stepped up its efforts in promoting the harmonized development of education at different levels so as to further improve structure and quality in education. By the end of last year, 28 counties and cities had realized six years' compulsory education, covering a population of over 1.08 million, or over 44% of the total population in Tibet with Dangxiong County being the first to have achieved the goal among 25 animal husbandry counties. The counties under the jurisdiction of Lhasa all have achieved the goal, its Chengguan District being the exceptional, which is the first to have attained the goal of 9 years' compulsory education.

Efforts have also been made in Tibet on developing vocational and adult education in various forms. Many vocational schools were built and courses for professional training were also provided in middle schools. In addition, spare-time schools and activities conducted for wiping out illiteracy have greatly raised the farmers' cultural quality. Up to now, eight counties and districts have basically eliminated illiteracy among the young and middle-aged people, covering a population of 340,000, or 14% of that in the whole region.



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