The number of students studying at the primary and secondary schools and universities in China's Tibet Autonomous Region totaled 380,000, accounting for 15 percent of its total population, a regional education official said in Lhasa Saturday.

The figure excludes the number of people recruited by schools in other parts of China, said Wu Yingjie, director of the Tibet Regional Education Department.

At present, Tibet has a population of 2.6 million, of which 1 million have received regular education. The rate of illiteracy in the region has dropped from 44.7 percent in 1991 to present 32 percent.

The region has invested 2.7 billion yuan in building new schools with a total floor space of 1 million square meters over the past five years.

( October 21, 2001)