Tibetan-inhabited areas of Southwest China's Sichuan Province have carried out a 15-year free education system to support local students from kindergarten through high school, according to CCTV report on Mar.24.

The Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has invested more than 22 million yuan in providing free education for over 11,000 high school students since this spring semester.

The Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture has established a 15-year free education system since 2013. As a result, students from poor families, who had previously dropped out of school have returned to school to continue their education.

According to statistics, the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture invested more than 800 million yuan in 2014, which had helped 26,000 kindergarten children, 94,000 primary and middle school students, 15,000 high school students and 2900 secondary vocational school students to attend school.

Sichuan Province has implemented six new projects for increasing people’s living standard in its Tibetan-inhabited areas since 2013, including free education, housing for farmers and herders, medical care and public health, social insurance, cultural development and poverty alleviation.

In 2015, Sichuan Province will invest another 5.3 billion yuan in its Tibetan-inhabited areas to improve the local people's living standards.