Shannan Today

Education, Science and Technology

Before liberation in 1951, Shannan had no school, to say nothing of modern and formal educational facilities. Even the three-estate holders and their children and agents had to receive traditional education through monasteries, which focused mainly on religious ethics. Under the rule of the lay and religious administration in old Tibet, the three-estate holders practiced anti-reform policies to maintain reactionary rule. The great majority of working people had no chance to receive an education, so the illiterate rate among farmers and herders was as high as 90 percent.

After liberation I n1951, the educational undertakings in Shannan developed rapidly. In 1956, the first primary school was wet up in Nedong County. Therefore, modern education in Shannan Prefecture made a first historic step. Through 40 years of efforts, the whole prefecture has formed an educational system with national characteristics, including kindergarten, primary school, middle school, secondary teachers school and secondary vocational school. Fundamental changes have taken place in education.

In 1997, Shannan had one secondary teachers training school with 410 students; one secondary vocational school with 15o students and 15 ordinary middle schools with 6,120 students. There are 595 ordinary primary schools with 6,120 students. There are 595 ordinary primary schools with 38,606 pupils. The entrance rate of school age children reached 86.1 percent. Beginning from 1985, some 200 students are selected every year to study in the inland Tibetan classes.

At present, various kinds of public-run schools at all levels have 2,069 teachers and staff, most of whom are Tibetans. There are 1,856 full-time teachers, accounting for 89.7 percent of the total. Some 1,182 teachers have a qualified record of formal schooling, making up 57.1 percent. This is a striking contrast with the situation of education in 1959 at the beginning of the democratic reforms.

Since 1984, educational departments at various levels have energetically carried out adult education. Night schools, continued education classes, literacy classes and technical training classes have been set up in most villages. Now the literacy rate in the prefecture is 654 percent, a 60 percentage point rise since 1959.

Shannan pays great attention to the teaching work involving the Tibetan language. Governments and educational administrative departments at all levels request that all middle and primary schools must provide Tibetan language classes and pay due attention to the use and teaching of languages of the ethnic minorities. At the same time, efforts have been made to change 595 local schools in boarder areas into provincial or regional schools, thus reducing the burden on locals, and raising the enthusiasm of remote-area teachers and promoting the development of boarder area educational undertakings.

The present achievements made by Shannan in education are due in part to the support of the Central Government and the people of the whole country. Investment in Shannan from the State and inland provinces totaled 213.8 million yuan from 1979 to 1995. In the eight years from 1990 to 1997, educational funding increased at a rate of 6 percent annually.

Under the feudal serf system, poor serfs were dressed in rags and did not have enough to eat. Due to the frequent occurrence of acute infectious diseases such as smallpox and natural disasters, thousands, of people died of hunger, cold or illness every year. Thanks to the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, Shannan People's Hospital was established in August of 1956. In September of the same year, three medical teams were set up in Longze, Lhori (now Lhozhag) and Gonggar. Since then, Shannan people have had their own doctors and hospitals and enjoyed free medical care. Thereafter, the Central Government continuously sent medical workers and some top and medium level medical college graduates to Tibet, and thus reinforced the medical contingent in Shannan.

In 1997, Shannan had 747 hospital beds in 195 medical and health institutions. The number of various health technicians reached 946, or 3.11 persons for every one thousand. Over 100 people held senior academic titles. Among these, minority medical workers accounted for 736, or 83.8 percent. The People's Hospital of Shannan Prefecture has 140 beds. Average annual outpatient volume is about 67,000. In 1959, the treatment rate of common illnesses was 38 percent, but now it has reached 75.5 percent. The hospital is also equipped with fiber gastroscopy, B-type ultrasound diagnose equipment, electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram, x-ray machines and other important diagnosis and treatment equipment. They can deal with various kinds of operations including cranial fracture alignment techniques.

In October of 1970, Shannan erected a prefectural health and quarantine station. Afterwards, 12 county level health and quarantine stations were set up. In 1972, the prefecture conducted vaccinations for leprosy. Beginning in 1986, the immunization plan for children was carried out across the prefecture, the vaccination rate for common children diseases such as polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussie and tetanus reached 96.55 percent, making the occurrence of various infectious and endemic diseases declined dramatically.

On September 21, 1985, the Health Care Hospital for Women and Children was founded, filling another blank in the history of Shannan medical and health undertakings. By the end of 1990, 12 counties had established health care stations, which help ensure the health of women and children. In order to quickly develop the county-level health care undertakings for women and children, the UN International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the public health department of the Tibet autonomous Region, after many investigations, signed a pilot county project cooperation program with Shannan Prefecture, offering support with medical equipment and communication tools.

Shannan's medical and public health undertakings have been greatly supported by other provinces and cities. From 1973 to 1994, Henan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Guangdong, Heilongjiang and other provinces and cities sent 416 medical workers in 30 groups to work or teach in the hospitals at the prefectural or county level, playing an important role in the development of Shannan's medical and public health undertakings.

Health care conditions have been constantly improved and health levels have been gradually raised. Average life span rose from 36 years in 1951 to 65 years in 1997. The natural population growth rate has been controlled below 12 per thousand. Family planning work had gone well in the autonomous region. Tibetan medicines have also been energetically developed since the reform and opening began in 1978.

In 1982, Shannan set up a traditional Tibetan medicine hospital. Now there are 108 employees, 77 of whom are medical professionals including more than 50 doctors holding senior academic titles. It has 80 hospital beds. Daily outpatient volume is about 100 patients. The Songtsan Tibetan Medical School, the first city-level Tibetan medical school in Tibet, was set up in Qoingyai County in 1992. In 1998, there were 40 students studying in the six-year program. Each county hospital has set up a Tibetan medicine department.

To popularize Tibetan medical science and medicine in the country and expand its service scope, the Beijing Tibetan Hospital was set up in Beijing by the china Tibetology Research Center and the Shannan prefecture Tibetan Hospital in November 1992. It has treated over 25,400 patients from home and abroad. Scientific research personnel from 20 or so cuntries have visited the hospital.

The Beijing Tibetan Hospital has established a clinic in Tianjin. Shenzhen, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu and other cities have shown interest in the opening of a similar clinic. The Tibetan medical treatment effectiveness has been well received by society, thus showing a prosperous future for the development of Tibetan medicines. With the needs of people's health, the output of Tibetan medicine has grown year by year. The prefecture's Tibetan Hospital Pharmaceutical Factory can produce more than 170 varieties of Tibetan medicines. Some have gained fame both at home and abroad, and demand exceeds supply.