BEIJING -- Students in Tibet autonomous region and south Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region enjoy free education for 15 years, part of China's efforts to ensure ethnic minority groups' right to education, said a white paper released Thursday.

The white paper on the practice of the Communist Party of China in respecting and protecting human rights was released by the State Council Information Office.

China works to ensure ethnic minority groups' right to education by running boarding schools in farming and pastoral areas, opening preparatory courses and special classes for ethnic minorities at colleges and schools, and prioritizing ethnic minority areas in developing higher education, the white paper said.

Nine-year compulsory education (elementary and junior high schools) has been universal in ethnic minority areas. In Tibet autonomous region and south Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, students are exempt from charges for education for a total of 15 years from preschool to senior high school, it said.