The Chinese government Monday published a white paper on the development of Tibet since 1951 to mark the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of the region. The document, released by the State Council's Information Office, reviewed the profound social changes that have taken place in Tibet over the past 60 years, including education.

In old Tibet there was not a single school in the modern sense. Education was monopolized by monasteries, and there were only a limited number of schools run by monks and officials. Almost all students in such schools were children of the nobility. The masses of serfs and slaves had been robbed off the right of receiving education. The enrollment rate for school-age children was less than 2 percent, while the illiteracy rate was as high as 95 percent among the young and the middle-aged, to say nothing of ignorance of modern science and technology. From 1951 to 2010 the central government invested 40.73 billion yuan to give a boost to Tibet's education. Now, Tibet has basically established an educational system with special local flavor and minority ethnic characteristics, which includes pre-school, primary and middle schools, secondary vocational and technical schools, institutions of higher learning, and adult and special education institutions. 

In 2010, Tibet had six institutions of higher learning, 122 junior and senior high schools, and 872 primary schools. The total enrollment was over 500,000. More than 20,000 Tibetan students are studying in Tibetan classes in schools of the hinterland. In 12 hinterland provinces and municipalities of China, 42 secondary vocational schools have classes for Tibetan students. Now the enrollment rate for primary school-age children of the Tibetan ethnic group has reached 99.2 percent; that for junior high school, 98.2 percent; that for senior high school, 60.1 percent; and that for institutions of higher learning, 23.4 percent. The illiteracy rate among the young and the middle-aged has fallen to 1.2 percent. The average educational period of people above 15 years old in Tibet has reached 7.3 years. The children enjoy "three guarantees" for compulsory education, i.e., the state guarantees all tuition as well as food and lodging expenses for students from Tibet's farming, pastoral or impoverished urban families from the pre-school period all the way to the senior high school period. Subsidies for each student in this regard have reached 2,000 yuan per year.

Science and technology in Tibet started from scratch and is growing rapidly. In 2010 Tibet had 34 independent scientific research institutes at various levels, nine private research centers, 140 organizations at various levels for popularizing science and technology in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry, and 52,107 professional technical personnel who have completed 3,253 key scientific and technological programs at the autonomous region and state levels. The scientific and technological content of economic development has increased markedly. The rate of contribution made by science and technology to overall economic growth has reached 33 percent, and that to the growth of agriculture and animal husbandry, 40 percent.