<p>Tibetan autonomous region's education department announced that all children in farming and herding areas would receive at least two years of free pre-school education in Tibetan and Putonghua (Mandarin) by 2015.<br /><br />"By then, at least 60 per cent of Tibetan children will attend kindergarten, compared with the current 24.5 per cent," the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a department spokesman as saying.<br /><br />The move is aimed at improving the early childhood education of Tibetans, who largely rely on farming and herding for a living, besides improving children's proficiency in both Tibetan and Mandarin and preparing them for formal school education, he said.<br /><br />The new policy was announced in the aftermath of reported demonstrations by schools students in several places in the Tibetan-inhabited areas opposing the policy of compulsory study of Mandarin, apprehending that it would marginalise their language and culture.<br />The new plan also evoked criticism from Tibetans activists who said it was aimed at making sure that all Tibetans, including semi-nomadic herders, learn Mandarin.<br /><br />Beijing-based Tibetan activist Tserang Woeser said the move indicated that the Chinese government was stepping up efforts to marginalise Tibetan language in Tibet</p>
<p>Tibetan autonomous region's education department announced that all children in farming and herding areas would receive at least two years of free pre-school education in Tibetan and Putonghua (Mandarin) by 2015.<br /><br />"By then, at least 60 per cent of Tibetan children will attend kindergarten, compared with the current 24.5 per cent," the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a department spokesman as saying.<br /><br />The move is aimed at improving the early childhood education of Tibetans, who largely rely on farming and herding for a living, besides improving children's proficiency in both Tibetan and Mandarin and preparing them for formal school education, he said.<br /><br />The new policy was announced in the aftermath of reported demonstrations by schools students in several places in the Tibetan-inhabited areas opposing the policy of compulsory study of Mandarin, apprehending that it would marginalise their language and culture.<br />The new plan also evoked criticism from Tibetans activists who said it was aimed at making sure that all Tibetans, including semi-nomadic herders, learn Mandarin.<br /><br />Beijing-based Tibetan activist Tserang Woeser said the move indicated that the Chinese government was stepping up efforts to marginalise Tibetan language in Tibet</p>