Beijing Daily:

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Tibet proposed that its overall educational development level would be close to the national average by 2020, and basic public education services would be gradually equalized. What measures has Tibet taken to develop its education? What have been the outcomes? Thank you.

Qizhala:

Thanks for your attention on education. Like the rest of China, education in Tibet has been comprehensively developed during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. At the sixth and the seventh symposiums on Tibet-related work, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that education should be taken as the top priority in promoting the development of various undertakings of the Party and the state. Under the care and guidance of General Secretary Xi, and with support from the whole country, we have continuously prioritized the development of education. A modern education system, covering preschool education, basic education, vocational education, higher education, continuing education and special education, has been basically established in Tibet. The educational rights and interests of the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have been fully guaranteed.

Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, a funding system which covers from preschool education to higher education has been established and improved. Public education has been made available in Tibet. The state has implemented the "three guarantee policy" for Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, and education funds and subsidies have reached over 18 billion yuan. The number of students receiving financial support has reached 11.02 million, and there have been 40 different kinds of support policies. It could be said that in terms of education, the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have had the best education policies. Therefore, the people's sense of educational benefits has been constantly rising. At present, wherever you go in Tibet, the best buildings are on school campuses, the best sports venues are on school campuses, and the people with the highest education in the region have also been employed by the schools.

In particular, Tibet has implemented special national plans in recent years, carried out special enrollment plans for key universities and special rural areas, and further promoted "sunshine enrollment." First of all, education is fair for students during enrollment, and everyone has been satisfied. This includes the "inland Tibet classes," which have been organized in 17 provinces and cities across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu province. This has been formed over the years by the Party and the state. The policy of including food, housing and study expenses has been implemented, and the annual amount provided for each student has reached 4,200 yuan. The "sunshine enrollment" has also ensured that every child of farmers and herdsmen enjoys fairness in education.

Seventeen provinces and municipalities, as well as the central government and relevant central government departments, have accelerated their efforts to source and organize groups of educational professionals to aid Tibet. Some schools have even installed these educational professionals as their principals, deans, and key subject teachers. By doing so, the level and quality of education in Tibet have been rapidly promoted. At the same time, we have comprehensively implemented the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and vigorously carried out education activities with the theme of "what kind of people to cultivate, how to cultivate them, and for whom they are cultivated?" among teachers and students. The education level of Mandarin has been strengthened in an all-round way. Once the nationwide unified textbooks were available, they have been used in the remotest schools in Ali prefecture, and schools in Naqu prefecture with an altitude of 4,800 to 4,900 meters. Balanced development for compulsory education at the county level has been basically achieved, with the gap between county-run primary schools and township-run primary schools within the region constantly narrowing. All primary and secondary schools now offer bilingual education; all primary schools offer math courses; all secondary schools have completed teaching plans for math, physics, chemistry, and biology courses; all secondary schools are offering physical, chemical, and biological experimental courses; and all vocational and technical schools are offering courses prescribed in the national catalog of courses for these schools. As a result, scores for physics and chemistry in the college entrance examination greatly increased both last year and this year, indicating that the overall physics and chemistry education in Tibet has obtained qualitative improvement and upgrading. The task to universalize senior secondary education has been fulfilled on schedule. A total of 1,340 new schools (kindergartens included) have been built. The "Internet Plus Education" model covers all primary and secondary schools and priority has been given to promoting smart education throughout the region. At present, Tibet has 3,195 schools of various types and at various levels, hosting more than 880,000 students. The gross enrollment rate for preschool education has reached 87%, while the enrollment rate in primary schools stands at 99.9%, and the retention rate of compulsory education is 95%.

Education has been improved in line with the progress made for poverty alleviation. In the past, some students were reluctant to return to school after the holidays because they were herding, or because they had missed too many lessons to go picking caterpillar fungus. However, with the fight against poverty, the cadres in villages, townships, and towns kept an eye on all the children in every village. After the holidays, none of the students dropped out of school except for those who were ill. Currently, our education, including preschool education and basic education, is progressing towards a higher level. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the University of Tibetan Medicine built a new campus with the support of the central government, which will be home to an incredible research base and platform as well as the training site for doctor degree candidates in China. The Tibetan Technician College's new campus is also under construction and will be fully launched in September this year. More than 1 billion yuan, excluding land acquisition fees, has been invested in each school at a time. Tibet University has made solid progress in building itself into a world-class university and developing world-class disciplines, with the advancement of many national key disciplines now in full swing. All these will provide basic education and talent support for the achievement of targets in Tibet's 14th five-year plan and its long-range goals for 2035. Thank you.