Boarding schools vital in providing education to children from remote areas in Xizang: white paper

LHASA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Boarding schools play a vital role in providing education to children from remote farming and pastoral areas in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, said a white paper released on Friday.

In these areas, accessing schools can be challenging due to high altitude, harsh natural environments, extremely low population density and long distances, said the white paper titled "Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era."

To address this problem, Xizang has followed the same practice as the rest of the country in accordance with the Compulsory Education Law, providing accommodation service and covering all the boarding, lodging, and basic study expenses for the pupils in some schools, said the white paper, which was released by the State Council Information Office.

Students and parents can choose if they wish to board at schools, and students can go home during weekends and holidays, it added.

The measures aim to protect the equal rights of students from all ethnic groups to high-quality education, said the white paper.

Between 2014 and 2024, Xizang invested around 302.3 billion yuan (around 42.1 billion U.S. dollars) as government budgetary spending on education, according to the white paper.

In 2012, Xizang led the entire country in providing 15 years of publicly-funded education from kindergarten to senior high school, said the white paper.

By 2024, the gross enrollment rate of preschool education reached 91.33 percent in the region, the completion rate of nine-year compulsory education was 97.86 percent, the gross enrollment rate in senior high schools reached 91.56 percent, and the gross enrollment rate of higher education was 57.81 percent, according to the white paper.

The major educational indicators in Xizang have reached or exceeded the national average, it said. ■