In old Tibet, there were no schools in modern sense. In those days, the attendance rate of school-age children was less than 2 percent and the illiteracy rate was as high as 95 percent.
In 1952, the Lhasa Primary School, the first modern school in Tibet, was established. Thereafter, primary schools were set up one after another in Qamdo, Xigaze and some other places. At the end of 1958, Tibet had 13 public primary schools with more than 2,600 pupils.
Up to 1965, the number of public primary schools in Tibet rose to more than 1,800 with 66,000 students. The region also had four regular middle schools and a teachers' school, with more than 1,500 students. Tibet's first institution of higher learning, the Tibet Ethnic College, had more than 3,000 students.
In 1984, the Central Government held the Second National Conference on Work in Tibet, which focused on education in the region. It was decided at the conference that school teaching in the region should be based on the Tibetan language and teaching contents should be adapted to Tibetan economic and cultural developments. It also decided that three Tibetan middle schools and 16 Tibetan classes would be established in 19 other provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
In the same year, Tibet University was founded and in September 1989, the Tibetan Medical College was established. The Education Commission of the Tibet Autonomous Region explicitly stipulates that the institutions of higher learning in Tibet must recruit Tibetan students.
Since 1985, the Central Government has established Tibetan classes (schools) in 21 other provinces and municipalities, training close to 10,000 college and polytechnic school graduates for Tibet.
In 2004, Tibet had 6,009 high school graduates who entered schools of higher learning. This brings the total number of in-school students up to 14,731. Also in the year, Tibet had 2,108 graduates. Secondary vocational schools enrolled 4,223 students, with 8,549 in-school students and 2,544 graduates; ordinary high schools enrolled 11,000 students, bringing the total number of students up to 26,700 with 6,800 graduates; ordinary middle schools enrolled 41,799 students, bringing the total number of in-school students up to 109,200, with 24,300 graduates; ordinary primary schools enrolled 59,100 students, bringing the total number of in-school students up to 327,000, with 45,200 graduates; about 94.7 percent of school-age children were in class, a figure which is 2.8 percentage points higher than the previous year. About 8,204 children were in kindergartens.
Educational Undertakings
Index |
Unit |
2000 |
2002 |
2003 |
Number of Schools |
Piece |
956 |
1016 |
1013 |
Schools of Higher Learning |
|
4 |
3 |
4 |
Secondary Scools |
|
110 |
114 |
117 |
Professional Schools |
|
12 |
11 |
10 |
Ordinary Middle Schools |
|
98 |
103 |
105 |
Primary Schools |
|
842 |
899 |
892 |
Full-Time Teachers |
People |
19042 |
20036 |
21160 |
Ordinary Schools of Higher Learning |
|
813 |
885 |
972 |
Secondary Schools |
|
5048 |
6359 |
7162 |
Professional Schools |
|
742 |
782 |
701 |
Ordinary Middle Schools |
|
4306 |
5577 |
6461 |
Primary Schools |
|
13181 |
12792 |
13026 |
In-School Students |
People |
381099 |
424913 |
453323 |
Ordinary Schools of Higher Learning |
|
5475 |
8438 |
10409 |
Secondary Schools |
|
61817 |
96906 |
120854 |
Professional Schools |
|
6585 |
6437 |
6718 |
Ordinary Middle Schools |
|
55232 |
90469 |
114136 |
Primary Schools |
|
313807 |
319569 |
322060 |
Number of Graduates |
People |
51822 |
63638 |
70703 |
Ordinary Schools of Higher Learning |
|
764 |
1686 |
1745 |
Secondary Schools |
|
14019 |
18023 |
23263 |
Professional Schools |
|
1895 |
2311 |
1973 |
Ordinary Middle Schools |
|
12124 |
15712 |
21290 |
Primary Schools |
|
37039 |
43929 |
45695 |
School Students Enrolled
Unit: Person
Year |
Total |
Schools of Higher Learning |
Professional Secondary Schools |
Ordinary Middle Schools |
Primary Schools |
1965 |
|
910 |
455 |
425 |
|
1975 |
|
772 |
1902 |
4109 |
|
1980 |
70075 |
233 |
334 |
8196 |
61312 |
1985 |
33367 |
530 |
615 |
6940 |
25282 |
1990 |
46670 |
645 |
1171 |
6516 |
38338 |
1992 |
64077 |
683 |
1303 |
9352 |
52739 |
1993 |
65148 |
1193 |
1306 |
9909 |
52740 |
1994 |
76845 |
1095 |
1531 |
10731 |
63488 |
1995 |
75084 |
1175 |
1707 |
12239 |
59963 |
1997 |
76645 |
717 |
1552 |
14765 |
59611 |
1999 |
80451 |
1681 |
1664 |
18167 |
58939 |
2000 |
88908 |
2320 |
2957 |
25662 |
57969 |
2001 |
97305 |
2420 |
2089 |
33823 |
58973 |
2002 |
104318 |
3414 |
2107 |
37973 |
60824 |
2003 |
112330 |
4279 |
2203 |
46935 |
58913 |
Rate of Graduates from Middle and Primary Schools Who Go to Study in Higher or Middle Schools and Rate of School-Age Children Who Go to Study in Primary Schools
Unit:%
Year |
Middle School Graduates Going to Study in Higher Schools |
Primary School Graduates Going to Study in Middle Schools |
School-Age Children Going to Study in Primary Schools
|
1981 |
|
29.6 |
76.0 |
1982 |
38.1 |
41.1 |
78.0 |
1983 |
39.2 |
49.7 |
42.1 |
1984 |
36.0 |
44.0 |
46.4 |
1985 |
49.4 |
44.9 |
46.0 |
1986 |
44.4 |
47.9 |
50.0 |
1987 |
48.8 |
53.2 |
48.4 |
1988 |
41.3 |
39.6 |
55.7 |
1989 |
40.7 |
73.6 |
53.1 |
1990 |
36.2 |
62.1 |
67.4 |
1991 |
32.9 |
67.7 |
45.6 |
1992 |
32.4 |
62.7 |
52.4 |
1993 |
30.2 |
74.0 |
58.9 |
1994 |
29.9 |
87.3 |
66.6 |
1995 |
43.2 |
67.7 |
70.4 |
1996 |
35.6 |
66.7 |
73.5 |
1997 |
52.8 |
61.7 |
78.2 |
1998 |
47.1 |
62.9 |
81.3 |
1999 |
66.6 |
45.2 |
81.7 |
2000 |
82.5 |
55.0 |
85.8 |
2001 |
73.3 |
67.0 |
87.2 |
2002 |
77.3 |
71.1 |
88.3 |
2003 |
72.1 |
82.9 |
91.8 |
Number of Various Professional and Technological Personnel
Unit: Person
Index |
1985 |
1990 |
2000 |
2003 |
Total |
23537 |
26751 |
34676 |
38227 |
Natural Science Technological Personnel |
17615 |
19704 |
29897 |
33728 |
Engineering Technological Personnel |
1735 |
2367 |
3121 |
3038 |
Agricultural Technological Personnel |
1838 |
1578 |
1852 |
1447 |
Scientific Researchers |
324 |
360 |
32 |
378 |
Health Technological Personnel |
6019 |
6530 |
7294 |
7112 |
Teaching Staff |
7699 |
8869 |
17298 |
21753 |
Social Science Workers |
5922 |
7047 |
4779 |
4526 |
Accountants |
3447 |
2671 |
1421 |
1391 |
Statisticians
|
773 |
533 |
148 |
851 |
People Involved in Journalism, Publication and Radio Broadcasting Work |
361 |
492 |
689 |
521 |
Translators/Interpreters |
79 |
310 |
390 |
264 |
PE Coaches |
50 |
48 |
42 |
43 |
Economics Workers |
370 |
1755 |
606 |
120 |
People Involved in Library and Archives |
118 |
364 |
496 |
371 |
Industrial Art Workers |
8 |
16 |
2 |
7 |
Artists |
716 |
800 |
471 |
837 |
Lawyers and Notary Public |
|
58 |
66 |
36 |
People Involved in Political Work |
|
|
448 |
85 |
|