Government popularity in Tibet relies upon its work
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E-mail Xinhua, March 7, 2012
The Tibetan governments at various levels will strive to fulfill the task of benefiting the public and have the residents enjoy the tangible benefits brought by the central government's preferential policies, said Padma Choling, chairman of the Tibet autonomous region Wednesday afternoon.
When asked to comment about young Tibetans' going abroad to follow Dalai Lama during a panel discussion open to press, he said the Chinese government needs not to compete with the Dalai Lama for the younger generations.
"The key is to improve the people's livelihood, especially education... We respect the normal activities of monasteries.. The popularity of the government will depend on its work," said he.
According to the chairman, Tibetan children enjoy 15-year free education until senior high schools. The enrollment rate of Tibetan children of school age are as high as 98 percent.
Official statistics showed all of the 16,600 college students graduating in Tibet last year have found jobs, which marks a significant contrast to the tough employment market in inland provinces that has left many graduates jobless.
The full employment rate of college graduates, compared to an average of 84 percent from 2006 to 2010, was the result of the Tibetan government's ramped-up efforts to expand the employment market for educated young people.
Begining from last year, the regional government started to offer cash incentives to graduates who were employed by private businesses and promised to reimburse university fees or write off student loans for graduates who work in the private sector for more than five years, officials said.
With six universities and junior colleges, Tibet only reformed its higher education system in 2006. Before then, each of the university students was assigned a job upon graduation, a cradle-to-grave social system abolished in other parts of China in the 1990s.
Officials said they also encouraged college graduates to work in inland provinces by holding job fairs that were attended by more than 100 businesses from wealthy coastal regions such as Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang.
The regional government is also planning to raise the higher education gross enrollment rate in Tibet to 30 percent in less than five years, meaning that three out of every 10 Tibetan students will enter college by 2015, educational officials previously said.
Tibet's current gross enrollment rate stands at 23.4 percent, slightly lower than the national average of 26.5 percent.
