Average Tibetans receives 8.4 years of education

Tibetans receive an average 8.4 years of education, data from education authorities in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region showed on Tuesday. Data also showed that the primary school enrollment rate in the region reached 99.59 percent in 2013. In 2013, the regional government invested 11 billion yuan (1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in education, benefitting 600,200 enrolled students, according to Ma Shengchang, director of the regional education department. Ma added that Tibet was the first place in China to provide free nine-year compulsory education in 2007, and the first to provide 15-year free education in 2012. The regional government also plans to increase the annual budget for the educational subsidy scheme by 70.5 million yuan from September. In the coming fall semester, children in kindergartens through to senior high schools will receive 2,900 yuan each to cover annual expenses for food, accommodation and educational supplies while they are in boarding school, according to Lu Mingxiu, an official with the Bureau of Finance of Tibet.