(Xinhua is the official news agency of the People's Republic of China)

XINING (Jan. 3) XINHUA - Qinghai Normal University in northwest China's Qinghai Province has helped train a large group of Tibetan officials and teachers, adding some muscle to the province's social development.

According to an official, the university first set up classes for the ethnic minorities in the province's middle schools in 1982, intending to provide enough qualified teachers for the vast pastoral area.

People in ethnic minorities account for 42 percent of the population of the province, which is situated on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, known as the "roof of the World."

Over 400 graduates from Qinghai Normal University are now working in secondary middle schools both in and outside the province, and are qualified to lecture in both the Chinese and the Tibetan language.