The set is composed of 17 books in the fields of mathematics, physics and chemistry with 6 million words. Seven books have come off the press so far.

It took six Tibetan professors at the Qinghai Education Institute two decades to complete the books. They were printed and published with financial aid from the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Program.

The new books use modern scientific terms with explanations which are easily understood by Tibetans.

Previously, Tibetan textbooks were compiled by different universities and mimeographed or transcribed by hands, which was error prone.

(Xinhua 01/21/2001)