Unprecedented changes have taken place in education in Xinjiang after 1949. At present, Xinjiang has basically made the nine-year compulsory education universal and eliminated illiteracy in the young and middle-aged population.

Children play in their new playground at Kanas Primary School in the Kanas natural landscape protection area in Xinjiang, September 15, 2009. Kanas invested 4 million yuan ($586,000) to build the new school. [Xinhua]

Children learn a Mandarin song at a bilingual kindergarten in Kashi, northwest Xinjiang, September 14, 2009. All 101 kindergartens in Kashi offer bilingual education to the 11,110 children enrolled.[Xinhua]