A celebration was held in the University of Tibet on Tuesday to mark its entering into China's key education development program -- Project 211, which means the school can expect more government funding support in the future.

Regional government chairman Qiangba Puncog said upon the celebration that by listing the Tibetan university as a national priority project for development, the government promised more assistance to develop the overall level of higher education in Tibet.

The Chinese Ministry of Education announced on Monday that the government will pour another 10 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) to the Project 211 in order to put more emphasis on western and ethnic minority areas.

Built in 1985 on the former Tibetan Normal University, the University of Tibet got 540 million yuan of state funding for a new campus building in 2004, which helped double its enrolling capacity to 8,000 students.

Tibet now has six colleges and universities with students numbering 27,000.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2008)