More ethnic minority students in Tibet, mostly Tibetans, have the opportunity to receive higher education, according to the education authorities of Tibet Autonomous Region.

"The number of ethnic minority students in Tibet sitting China's annual National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) reached 11,695 this year, a 49.7 percent growth on 2005," said Xue Ling, spokeswoman of the Education and Examination Office.

She did not reveal the total number of students sitting the exam in Tibet or what proportion of the 11,695 was actually accepted into university. Around 9.5 million people sat the exam nationwide this year.

Statistics also show that among the students recruited by universities in Tibet, more than 70 percents are ethnic minority students.

The number of students registered at Tibetan high schools is 37,677 with ethnic minority students accounting for 87 percent, both much higher than four years ago.

"The drastic rise in Tibetan examinees and high school students can be attributed to the fast development of compulsory education in Tibet," Xue said.

China has invested a total of 1.62 billion yuan (US$210 million) to promote nine years of compulsory education in Tibet since 2004, she added.

To raise the enrollment of ethnic minority students in Tibet, the Chinese government has adopted preferential policies by setting different admission scores for ethnic minority students and those of the Han nationality.

This year's admission scores for ethnic minority students are 150 to 212 lower than that for students of Han nationality.

"According to statistics, the number of Han students attending NCEE in Tibet this year is around 800 less compared with the figure last year," Xue said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2007)