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Education in old Tibet was very backward. There were no schools
in the modern sense. Before Tibet's peaceful liberation, only some
2,000 monks and children of the nobility studied in government and
private schools. The masses of serfs and slaves had no right to
receive education.
Under the stipulation of the 17-Article Agreement concerning the
gradual development of the spoken and written Tibetan language and
school education, the Lhasa Primary School was founded in 1952 and
the Lhasa Middle School established in 1956. This enabled Tibet
to embark on the road to modern education.
To develop education in Tibet, the government has invested more
than 1.1 billion yuan and introduced a series of special policies
over the past 40 years. Education is free. All the study costs of
Tibetan students, from primary school to university, are covered
by the government. Since 1985, free food, clothing and accommodation
have been provided for some Tibetan primary and middle school students,
and boarding schools have been introduced in the vast rural and
pastoral areas. The principle of "giving priority to local nationalities"
has been carried out in recruiting students for various kinds of
schools at different levels. Priority is given to candidates of
Tibetan and other local nationalities in the recruitment of university,
college and secondary vocational school students. Efforts are being
made to establish more departments and schools of Tibetan culture
covering Tibetan language, medicine, art and history.
Over the past four decades and more, Tibet has basically established
an educational system with both special local flavor and national
characteristics which includes pre-school, primary and middle school,
secondary vocational and technical school education, plus higher
education, and adult and television education. Urban residents,
farmers and herdsmen now enjoy the right to receive education. According
to statistics, by 1991, Tibet had established four modern universities
(Tibet University, the Institute for Nationalities, the Agriculture
and Animal Husbandry College and the Tibetan Medical College); 15
secondary vocational and technical schools involved in teacher training,
agriculture and animal husbandry, public health, Tibetan medicine,
finances, sports, art, and post and telecommunications; 63 middle
schools and 2,474 primary schools. The total enrollment hit 196,000,
with most being Tibetan students. Of the 16,000 faculty members,
two-thirds were Tibetan teachers. The buildings of primary and secondary
schools and institutes of higher learning covered nearly 1.5 million
square meters, and audio-visual teaching had become an important
means of instruction. In the last four decades and more in Tibet,
18,000 students graduated from universities and colleges; 510,000
from primary and secondary schools, including more than 40,000 from
secondary vocational schools, senior middle schools and secondary
technical schools; more than 15,000 cadres were trained in rotation;
and nearly 7,000 people received certificates from secondary vocational
and college-level self-study programs. A large number of professionals
for all undertakings have thus been trained.
The development of education in Tibet has enhanced the cultural
level of citizens, creating conditions for the Tibetan people to
better exercise their right of regional autonomy as an ethnic minority
and attain overall development. However, since the foundations of
education in old Tibet were very weak and the population sparsely
scattered, illiterates and semi-illiterates still make up a considerable
proportion in Tibet's population, although they are now in the minority
rather than in the majority, as they were in the past. Further development
of education remains a strenuous and pressing task in Tibet.
Tibet has a rich traditional culture which covers language, literature,
art, philosophy, religion, medicine and the celestial almanac. The
Chinese government has always attached importance to protecting
and developing the excellent traditional culture of the Tibetan
ethnic group. It has adopted a series of policies and measures to
honor, protect and ensure the flourishing of Tibet's traditional
culture, enabling the legacy of Tibetan culture to be inherited
and developed.
The Tibetan language is the common language for the whole autonomous
region. In July 1987, the autonomous regional People's Congress
adopted the Regulations on Study, Use and Development of the Tibetan
Language in the Tibet Autonomous Region (for trial implementation),
which clearly stipulates that both Tibetan and Chinese languages
should be used in the Tibet Autonomous Region while first place
is given to the Tibetan language. Today, all the resolutions, regulations
and rules, the decrees adopted by the People's Congress of the Tibet
Autonomous Region and all the formal documents and notices issued
by the autonomous regional people's government are in both Tibetan
and Chinese. Newspapers, radio and television stations also use
both languages. Of the books edited and published in the autonomous
region, those in the Tibetan language make up 70 percent. Speakers
of different languages are treated equally in the recruitment of
workers, cadres and students, with priority always given to Tibetan
speakers. Tibetan is used in large meetings attended by the masses.
All work units, streets, roads and public facilities are marked
in both Tibetan and Chinese script. The Tibetan language is the
main subject of all schools at different levels.
The Tibetan people's traditional customs and practices have received
wide respect. In the cities, towns and agricultural and pastoral
areas in Tibet, most Tibetans still retain their traditional clothing,
diet and housing. Each year, the Tibetan people celebrate the Tibetan
New Year, the Sour Milk Drinking Festival, the Butter Lamp Festival,
the Bathing Festival, the Ongkor (Bumper Harvest) Festival and the
Damar Festival in their time-honored ways. The government has introduced
preferential policies to encourage the production of necessities
for minority nationalities.
Cultural relics in Tibet are put under full protection. The Potala
Palace, the Jokhang Monastery and some other monasteries and temples
have become national or regional key cultural preservation centers.
Since the mid-1970s, systematic plateau archeological studies have
been carried out and several dozen cultural sites of the Stone Age
excavated. All the unearthed cultural relics are carefully kept
by the regional cultural relics management department, and these
discoveries provide valuable materials for the study of primitive
and traditional Tibetan culture.
The traditional cultural heritage of Tibetans has been systematically
investigated, collected, collated, published and studied. The Tibetan
Ancient Books Publishing House has collected more than 200 rare
ancient books in Tibetan and collated and published a number of
them. The Tibet People's Publishing House has pooled efforts to
collate and publish a number of classics and booklets of historical
archives. By the end of 1990, more than 1 million copies of 200
ancient Tibetan books had been distributed. Tibetan classics, which
only existed in hand-written and engraved forms and were neglected
for several hundred years, now, for the first time, have been printed
in copies with exquisite binding.
Marked achievements have also been made in the collection and collation
of Tibetan folk literature, drama, music and choreography. More
than 20 writings and books on Tibetan folk culture have been published.
King Gesar, the world's longest epic created by the Tibetan
people, existed only in oral memory among the Tibetan people and
was performed using dialogue and singing. Today, the retrieval,
collation and study of this epic has been included in the state's
key social science research projects, and a special institution
has been founded to take charge of the project. Up to now, more
than 3,000 cassette tapes recording the epic have been made, and
62 volumes in the Tibetan language published with a total circulation
exceeding 3 million copies. The 600,000-word History of Chinese
Dramas: Tibetan Volume has been compiled, filling in a blank
in theoretical writings and monographic studies on drama in Tibetan
history. Materials are being garnered on the basis of surveys for
the compilation of books about Tibetan dance, folk rhymes, music
in Tibetan opera and folk art, instrumental music, folk art history,
folk songs, folklore and proverbs.
Tibetology is a comprehensive branch of learning which embraces
all areas, including Tibetan history, religion, culture, economics,
politics and sociology. More than 50 Tibetan studies institutions
have been founded in Tibet and other places, and the China Tibetan
Studies Center was inaugurated in 1986 in Beijing. These research
institutions have taken up numerous research projects, such as the
strategy for socio-economic development in Tibet, a concise history
of Tibet, the collation and study of Pattra in Sanskrit,
and the study of the origin of Tibetan religions and religious sects.
They have also launched nearly 30 journals in the Tibetan, Chinese
or English languages, including Tibet Research, Tibetan Buddhism,
Tibetan Social Development Study, Tibetan Art Study, Snowy Land
Culture, China's Tibetan Studies, and China's Tibet.
Since the 1980s, with the expansion of international academic exchange
concerning the study of Tibet, 130-plus scholars from a dozen of
countries and regions and Tibetan scholars residing abroad have
visited Tibet, made academic surveys and conducted negotiations
on joint scientific research projects. Some Tibetan experts and
scholars were invited to go on tours, give lectures and participate
in academic meetings abroad.
Tibet's traditional culture and art, which only entertained high
officials and noble lords in the past, now serve all Tibetan people,
enriching their cultural life. The autonomous region has ten professional
art and dance ensembles and Tibetan opera troupes, 20 county-level
art troupes and more than 350 amateur performing troupes. There
are six multi-purpose people's art centers equipped with modern
facilities and 25 county-level cultural centers. Tibet now boasts
a contingent of nearly 5,000 professional cultural workers, with
Tibetans accounting for 90 percent of the total. They have created
a number of literary and artistic works and programs which have
a strong national flavor and reflect the features of our age, and
some of their works have won international prizes. Over the past
decade and more, 14 Tibetan art troupes composed of close to 300
artists were invited to give performances abroad. Cultural activities
are very much in evidence during each traditional festival in Tibet.
The Sour Milk Drinking Festival has expanded from performances of
Tibetan operas to the largest annual art festival featuring all
kinds of cultural and artistic activities. Traditional sports have
been held extensively in Tibet too. Since the 1980s, more than ten
traditional sports have been tapped and included in formal competitions.
Tibetan athletes captured quite a few prizes at the National Sports
Meet for Ethnic Groups. During traditional festivals, time-honored
games and performances are held in all parts of Tibet. The modern
athletic level in Tibet has been enhanced constantly and mountaineering,
in particular, has attained internationally known achievements.
While traditional cultural activities are flourishing in Tibet,
modern cultural facilities have also made their way there. At present,
Tibet has 137 television and TV video relay stations and television
transposer stations, 297 ground satellite stations, 26 radio broadcasting,
relay and transmitting stations, and 74 wire broadcasting stations
at prefectural and county levels. A broadcasting and television
network which covers the whole region and combines satellite and
wireless transmission with wire broadcasting has initially taken
shape in Tibet. The region now has 82 film distribution and projection
agencies and 553 film projection teams. Nearly 200 new films are
shown each year, and residents in agricultural and pastoral areas
enjoy free film shows. Many modern recreational facilities have
been built in Tibet to prosper both traditional and modern cultural
activities.
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