3. Tibetan society has progressed in an all-round way, with all social undertakings flourishing.
In old Tibet there was not a single school in the modern sense. Education was monopolized by monasteries, and there were only a limited number of schools run by monks and officials. Almost all students in such schools were children of the nobility. The masses of serfs and slaves had been robbed off the right of receiving education. The enrollment rate for school-age children was less than 2 percent, while the illiteracy rate was as high as 95 percent among the young and the middle-aged, to say nothing of ignorance of modern science and technology. From 1951 to 2010 the central government invested 40.73 billion yuan to give a boost to Tibet’s education. Now, Tibet has basically established an educational system with special local flavor and minority ethnic characteristics, which includes pre-school, primary and middle schools, secondary vocational and technical schools, institutions of higher learning, and adult and special education institutions. In 2010 Tibet had six institutions of higher learning, 122 junior and senior high schools, and 872 primary schools. The total enrollment was over 500,000. More than 20,000 Tibetan students are studying in Tibetan classes in schools of the hinterland. In 12 hinterland provinces and municipalities of China, 42 secondary vocational schools have classes for Tibetan students. Now the enrollment rate for primary school-age children of the Tibetan ethnic group has reached 99.2 percent; that for junior high school, 98.2 percent; that for senior high school, 60.1 percent; and that for institutions of higher learning, 23.4 percent. The illiteracy rate among the young and the middle-aged has fallen to 1.2 percent. The average educational period of people above 15 years old in Tibet has reached 7.3 years. The children enjoy “three guarantees” for compulsory education, i.e., the state guarantees all tuition as well as food and lodging expenses for students from Tibet’s farming, pastoral or impoverished urban families from the pre-school period all the way to the senior high school period. Subsidies for each student in this regard have reached 2,000 yuan per year.
Science and technology in Tibet started from scratch and are growing rapidly. In 2010 Tibet had 34 independent scientific research institutes at various levels, nine private research centers, 140 organizations at various levels for popularizing science and technology in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry, and 52,107 professional technical personnel who have com-pleted 3,253 key scientific and technological programs at the autonomous region and state levels. The scientific and technol-ogical content of economic development has increased mark-edly. The rate of contribution made by science and technology to overall economic growth has reached 33 percent, and that to the growth of agriculture and animal husbandry, 40 percent.
Tibet’s medical services are also constantly improving. Be-fore the peaceful liberation, there were only three small, shabby government-run institutions of Tibetan medicine and a small number of private clinics, with less than 100 medical workers altogether. By the end of 2010 there were 1,352 medical institutions of all types and at all levels in Tibet, with 8,838 hospital beds and 9,983 medical workers. A healthcare system in farming and pastoral areas has been established, with funds from the government comprising the major part, backed up by family accounts, and comprehensive arrangements for serious diseases and medical relief. A medical and healthcare network covering all counties and townships, with Lhasa as the center, has taken shape. Now, all townships in Tibet have health centers and all villages have clinics. Thanks to improvement in medical services, the Tibetan people’s health level has been raised. The death rate of women in childbirth has dropped from 5,000 per 100,000 to 174.78 per 100,000, and the infant mortality rate from 430 per thousand before the peaceful liberation to 20.69 per thousand. The average life expectancy has increased from 35.5 to 67 years. According to the sixth national census, the total population of Tibet increased from one million before the peaceful liberation to more than three million, of whom 2.7164 million or 90.48 percent were Tibetans.
Tibet has established a social security system mainly cover-ing basic pension insurance, basic medical insurance, unemployment insurance for urban workers, industrial accident insurance and maternity insurance, which cover all urban and rural residents. From November 2009, with the initiation of the New Rural Pension Social Insurance, to the end of 2010, 73 counties (cities and districts) were made pilot areas to try out the policy, granting accumulatively 76.3155 million yuan of basic pension insurance payments to residents over 60 years old in farming and pastoral areas. Pensions received by enterprise retirees reached 2,439 yuan per month per person, higher than the national average. The inpatient reimbursement rate for urban residents covered by the medical insurance policy reached 75.1 percent. The highest reimbursement of medical expenses in 2010 was 130,000 yuan, 8.7 times the per-capita disposable income of 14,980 yuan of urban dwellers in Tibet. The number of Tibetan people who have taken out social insurance stood at 1.6623 million, and 1.732 billion yuan of various social insur-ances have been collected. Meanwhile, there were 527,100 em-ployees in the urban areas, and the registered urban unemployment rate was 3.81 percent.
4. Ethnic culture in Tibet is enjoying unprecedented prosperity, and freedom of religious belief is respected and protected.
The central and regional governments always attach great importance to carrying on, protecting and developing the excel-lent traditional culture of the Tibetan ethnic group. The study, use and development of the Tibetan language are protected by law, and the Tibetan script has become the first ethnic-minority script in China that has international text coding standards for information exchange. The state has altogether apportioned 1.45 billion yuan to maintain and repair the Potala Palace, the Norbulingka and Sakya Monastery, and other cultural relics and historical sites. Tibet’s 76 distinctive cultural items such as folk handicrafts, folk art and Tibetan opera have been listed among items of state-level intangible cultural heritage, and 53 people have been recognized as representatives of the state-level in-tangible cultural heritage. The Potala Palace, Jokhang Monastery and Norbulingka have been listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. Tibetan opera and the famous Legend of King Gesar have been put upon the World Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Tibetan medicine, with unique local features, has entered the world market, and Tibetology research is flourishing as never before.
Tibet’s radio, TV, press and publications are also growing rapidly. In 2010 the region had four radio stations, five TV stations, 27 medium-wave transmitting and relay stations, 68 radio and TV transmitting and relay stations at the county level, and 9,371 radio and TV receiving and transmitting stations at the township level. Tibet has built China’s first eth-nic-minority-language radio and TV program dubbing center — Tibetan Radio and TV Program Dubbing Center. More than 380,000 households can receive 55 digital radio and TV pro-grams through the Direct Broadcasting Satellite. The radio and TV coverage rate has reached 90.28 percent and 91.4 percent, respectively. Tibet publishes 58 kinds of newspapers and pe-riodicals, and has accumulatively published 12,000 titles of books in Chinese and Tibetan, totaling 250 million printed cop-ies.
Tibet now has 10 professional art performing troupes, 500-odd amateur art performing and Tibetan opera teams, and 19 folk art performing groups at the county level. A large number of traditional festivals have been inherited and revived, such as the annual Shoton Festival in Lhasa, Qomolangma Cultural and Tourist Festival in Xigaze and Summer Horse Races in Nagqu. Tibet endeavors to extend radio and TV coverage to every village and household, share cultural information and resources and establish cultural centers at the county and township levels to enrich the cultural life of farmers and herdsmen. It also endeavors to realize the complete coverage of comprehensive cultural centers and county-level sharing of cultural information and resources. A number of literary and artistic works and programs have been created which have a strong local flavor and display the features of our times, and there have been great improvement in both quantity and quality.
Freedom of religious belief of all ethnic groups is respected and protected in Tibet. All religions, all religious sects are equal in Tibet. The Living Buddha reincarnation system, unique to Tibetan Buddhism, is fully respected. People are free to learn and debate Buddhist doctrines, get ordained as monks and practice Buddhist rites. Academic degrees in Buddhism are also promoted. The central government has listed some famous sites for religious activities as cultural relics units subject to state or autonomous regional protection, including the Potala Palace, Jokhang, Tashilhunpo, Drepung, Sera and Sakya monasteries. Tibet now has more than 1,700 venues for religious activities, and about 46,000 monks and nuns. Monks and laymen organize and take part in the Sakadawa Festival and other religious and traditional activities every year. More than one million worshi-pers make pilgrimage to Lhasa each year.
5. Ecological conservation has been progressing rapidly, and environmental protection is being strengthened in an all-round way.
Tibet serves as an important ecology safety barrier in China. In old Tibet macro-ecological conservation or comprehensive environmental protection was out of the question. But since the peaceful liberation, and especially since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policies, the central and regional gov-ernments have attached great importance to ecological conser-vation and environmental protection, and earmarked large amounts of funds, manpower and materials in these endeavors. In 2002 the central government decided to launch 160 key projects in this regard. During the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), the state granted 3.243 billion yuan for ecological and environmental protection in Tibet, and during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) the figure tripled to 10.162 billion yuan. The People’s Congress and People’s Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region have published more than 30 local regulations, regulatory documents and administrative rules cov-ering ecological conservation and environmental protection. A relatively comprehensive system of environmental protection has taken shape. Meanwhile, Tibet actively carries out projects to protect its natural forests, and convert farmland into forest and pastures into grassland. It also makes efforts to control deser-tification and soil erosion, manage small watersheds and prevent geological disasters. Tibet led the whole country to initiate the ecological compensation mechanism for the protection of grassland. It has launched a project to replace firewood with clean energy, and 150,000 households have begun to use meth-ane gas. Tibet is home to 21 ecological function conservation areas, seven national forest parks, three geological parks, one state-class scenic area and 47 nature reserves at various levels, accounting for 34.5 percent of the total land area of the region, topping any other part in China. The forest coverage rate has risen from less than 1 percent before the peaceful liberation to 11.91 percent at present, and more than six million hectares of wetland have been protected. According to the latest report on the state of the environment of China, generally speaking, there is no pollution of the atmosphere or water in Tibet. The region has basically maintained its original natural state, being one of the areas with the best environmental quality in the world. Tibet has embarked on a path of sustainable development, with eco-nomic growth and ecological protection advancing side by side. On March 2, 2009 the central government approved the Plan for Ecology Safety Barrier Protection and Construction in Tibet (2008-2030), with the projected investment amounting to 15.5 billion yuan.
