LHASA: The graduation of the first group of postgraduates from colleges in the Tibet Autonomous Region has shown that local institutions of higher learning have become an important training ground for traditional Tibetan culture.

The 10 Tibetan postgraduates completed their studies and were awarded master's degrees on July 17. They majored in Tibetology, the history of the Tibetan ethnic group and Tibetan language and Tibetan medicine.

Their success shows that traditional culture is vital in these modern times.

But their success was practically unimaginable half a century ago. Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, there was not a single modern institutional school in Tibet and education was only a tool controlled and manipulated by temples. Tibetan culture and art were made to cater to the nobles and high officials, and feudal serfdom shackled the growth of Tibetan culture.

King Gesar, the longest epic poem in the world, was then only handed down orally by ballad folk singers, who were at the bottom of the social ladder and could only make a living by singing the story of the legendary hero of the Tibetan ethnic group. Ballad-singing was regarded by the nobles as "beggars' activities."

For a period of time, many fine aspects of Tibetan culture ceased to develop and some were on the verge of extinction.

Historical records show that in old Tibet, there were only a few schools for monks and high officials and a few private schools, with less than 3,000 students at most. Among ordinary Tibetans, less than 2 per cent of school-age children were in school, and the illiteracy rate stood at over 90 per cent.

The founding of Qamdo primary school, with the help of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in March 1951, marked the emergence of modern schooling in Tibet. In the ensuing half century, the Chinese central government helped Tibet set up a comprehensive modern education system covering elementary education, education for pre-school children and adults, as well as vocational schools and colleges and universities.

Tibet's first school of higher learning, which focuses on fostering and training local Tibetan cadres, was set up in 1958. The Tibet Gongxue (public school) provides not only liberal education courses, but also courses on Tibetan ethnic culture. Tibetan language has also remained a required course for those studying in the school for the past four decades.

Tibet University, the first in Tibet, offers such courses as the Tibetan language, Tibetan art and the history of the Tibetan ethnic group. More than 10,000 students, 85 per cent of whom are of Tibetan and other ethnic groups, have graduated from the university since its establishment in 1985.

With an aim to develop and carry forward traditional Tibetan medicine, the College of Tibetan Medicine was founded with the assistance of the central government. The college has become the largest and most authoritative educational institution of Tibetan medicine in China.

Tibetan experts and scholars have made marked achievements in the study of Tibetology, the history of the Tibetan ethnic group, Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan culture, art, music, their relations with other parts of China, and the epic King Gesar.

Tibet University and the College of Tibetan Medicine began offering post-graduate courses on the history, language and art of China's ethnic groups, and a course in the Tibetan medicine in 1998.

The founding and development of colleges and universities in Tibet signify a revival of cultural consciousness for Tibetans. Tibet's colleges and universities have become major venues for people to systematically study, examine and carry forward traditional Tibetan culture. They also serve as important bridges through which traditional Tibetan culture can mix with modernization and globalization.