Sitting by her wooden loom, Palbar Drolkar is busy weaving a piece of fabric with colourful strips. Her hands dance with the shuttles and her feet step on the treadles in quick rhythm.

"We call it pulu. It is used as an apron in traditional Tibetan dress," the 19-year-old Tibetan girl tells people visiting the factory in Jedeshol Town in Gongkar County, Shannan Prefecture in the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region. She says she can make a two-metre pulu in one day and earn 30 yuan (US$3.69) for each piece.

Meanwhile in the workshop there are about 10 looms busy with pulu and four bigger looms making carpets. The workers are all in their 20s.

Pulu weaving in Jedeshol is more than 1,000 years old. The centuries-old traditional technique has been passed on from generation to generation, mostly within the home.

"Palbar Drolkar is one of the best workers in my factory," said director Kelsang. "She is able to create exquisite designs because she is the only one here who has received professional training at school, learning from skillful pulu masters."

After graduating from middle school, Palbar Drolkar went to a vocational school in the county instead of going on to high school.

"I wanted to learn something that could support me," she said. She chose the pulu weaving course, a technique she has been familiar with since childhood.

Palbar Drolkar was not alone in Shannan Prefecture. She said 19 out of 40 of her classmates chose this school after middle school, learning different skills, especially traditional Tibetan arts.

"As well as nine years' compulsory education, vocational education is very important, particularly in Shannan where there are vast rural areas," said Dawa, deputy director of the Education Bureau of Shannan Prefecture. He said it was not enough for rural students to get only a basic education from books. "With just a basic education they can't survive when they are back home. They have to make a living out of their skills," he said.

Folk arts like carpet weaving and traditional Tibetan painting have become popular subjects.

Carpet is widely used in every Tibetan family. It has a great market potential. "Although many people have known how to make it since they were children, they need more training if they want to create exquisite ones," Dawa said.

Carpet weaving is now a very popular course in the Shannan school, which was set up in the early 1990s and is believed to be the first of its kind in Tibet.

Dawa says there are now 79 graduates working for the Lhasa Carpet Import and Export Company.

Since 1993, more than 500 students have graduated from the school and more than 300 who majored in traditional painting have also found ways to make a living.

Some have gone back to teach at either the school or other training centres, and are often invited to give lectures. Compared to older folk artists who are usually illiterate, the young teachers are trying to improve the ancient skills. Their creations are unique in design and colour.

Carpet weaving and traditional painting have brought fortune to both the school and the students. Carpets alone made 500,000 yuan (US$61,652) last year, according to Dawa.

In the past decade Shannan has set up a network promoting vocational education. There are 12 specialized subjects in the school and eight short-term courses with 1,324 students. "We are exploring a way to combine basic education with vocational education in both primary and middle schools in rural areas," Dawa said.

"It is also a good way of preserving traditional culture."

There are now nine such schools across the region with more than 8,686 students, focusing on courses such as traditional painting and weaving, carpentry and mechanical repair, particularly in agricultural machines, and architectural design for traditional housing. Various professional training centres have been set up in county seats, providing short-term training.

The subjects change from place to place depending on their needs. Chushur near Lhasa is an agricultural county where many boys want to learn tractor repair. A greenhouse project set up with the help of the European Union in Bainang County in Xigaze offers training in planting. "There are now 80 students there learning how to grow watermelons," said Deng Guangxing, director of the vocational education office of the Tibet Autonomous Region's Education Commission.

Meanwhile in Damxung County near Lhasa, there is a tradition of making traditional Tibetan stoves. The blacksmith course has become popular there.

"The employment rate for people with vocational education is 95.7 per cent," Deng said. "We are going to spend 240 million yuan (US$30 million) between 2005-08 to improve the facilities of vocational schools and professional training centres in Tibet."

He said the local government plans to set up a fund especially for the development of this kind of education. Various short-term training courses will also be provided for young farmers and women in rural areas.

"To improve the facilities of the vocational schools is one of the key targets for the development of this education," Deng said.

The regional government also plans to set up a network featuring vocational education at different levels including higher degrees.

"To strengthen vocational education will not only develop traditional culture but also promote economic growth in the region," Deng said.

(China Daily 08/27/2005 page3)