Tibet University

Prior to the Democratic Reform in 1959, there were no schools in the modern sense, only a few traditional schools. Their students came mostly from the families of the aristocrats and business people. Three schools were run by the local government of Tibet. They were the Monk Officials Schools in the Potala Palace, with 40-50 students; the Lay Officials School in the Jokhang Monastery, with some 20 students; and the Medical and Calendaring School of the Medical and Calendaring College (Moinzekang), with up to 100 students. The three schools had only 180 students total. Other schools were privately owned. However, having very few students, they only taught Tibetan and arithmetic.

As children of ordinary families could not afford to go to school, more than 90 percent of people in Tibet were illiterate. This situation with school education remained unchanged until after the Democratic Reform in 1959. Over the past 40 years, a sound educational system has been formed in Lhasa. The system features a combination of kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools, and schools of higher learning.

Since 1985, the Central Government has set up 67 Tibet Middle Schools and has run Tibetan classes in universities in inland China. They have trained some 10,000 Tibetan students, 5,000 of whom furthered their study in universities or are working. Nowadays, the Lhasans take pride in sending their children to schools.

Lhasa No.1 Primary School