52 years ago when Tibet became an autonomous region under the People's Republic of China, 97 percent of the children were illiterate and the minority that did attend schools were children of rich families who studied in schools run by Buddhist monks.
After 1951, an education system comprising of kindergartens, primary schools, technical schools and universities sprung up in Tibet.  By the end of last year, Tibet had 3,099 primary and secondary schools with 410,000 pupils. Attendance at primary schools reached 88.3 percent.
The regional department of education now plans to initiate a six year compulsory education plan by 2005 which will cater to 95 percent of Tibetan children in the elementary school going age-group and a none-year compulsory education plan by 2007 which will cater to 97 percent of Tibetan children.
The illiteracy rate which dropped from 97 percent to 34 percent in the past 50 years among young and middle-aged Tibetans is expected to fall to five percent by 2007. [Reported Xinhuanet News]