Education among ethnic minority people in northwest China's
Gansu
Province has made marked improvement in recent years.
Gansu is home to 44 minority ethnic groups totaling 2.38 million
people, 9.3 percent of the region's total population.
Most people from the ethnic minority groups are living in the two
ethnic autonomous prefectures, seven ethnic autonomous counties and
dozens of multinational counties.
The 10 pastoral counties in the province have set up many learning
centers and over 100 boarding schools, providing education for
children from herdsmen families, an official said.
Ethnic education in other parts of Gansu has also improved. Some
76.33 percent of ethnic minority children are studying in primary
schools.
The province and the World
Bank have provided a total of 72.04 million yuan for 316
schools in minority area. Meanwhile, the country's national
compulsory education program invested 150 million yuan for 366
schools in 12 poverty-stricken counties in the province.
Last year, 2,521 students of ethnic minority people in Gansu
entered colleges and universities, making up 10.2 percent of the
province's total college enrollment.
Gansu has also set up dozens of training centers for thousands of
teachers, who are now playing an important role in the region's
education for ethnic minority students.
The Department of Education in Gansu also attaches importance to
improving bilingual teaching, especially in the minority-inhabited
areas.
So
far, more than 306 primary and high schools as well as two
universities in the province have opened ethnic language
courses.
(Xinhua News
Agency January 6, 2002)