Training boosts job skills for Tibetan herders

With rapid economic and social development, a greater number of surplus rural workers in Tibet have bid farewell to the tedious life of farming and herding and ranged further afield in search of jobs in townships and cities.

Ngawang, a villager in Lhatse county, the city of Shigatse, now works in a Tibetan carpet cooperative near her home, making more than 2,000 yuan a month.

"My family can also receive dividends of 10,000 yuan each year from the village's herding cooperative," Ngawang says.

Since 2016, nearly 5 million farmers and herders in Tibet have landed new jobs, while around 100,000 people have received vocational skill training, according to the regional human resource authority.

Kelsang Droma, a researcher with the China Tibetology Research Center, says the urban-rural integrated development and rapid urbanization in Tibet will accelerate progress in Tibet's employment structure and become a major force in promoting the region's economic growth.

Last year, Wanglang expanded his workshop and earned nearly 50,000 yuan.

"It is the skills training that changed my life," he says.