Despite years of investment under the Western Development Strategy, the vast majority of Tibetans in Tibet are severely disadvantagedboth socially and economically by the inadequate provision of education. The investments poured into the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and the Tibetans areas of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan by the Chinese government have in large part bypassed the fundamental importance of education, resulting in a majority of illiterate Tibetans who are unable to actively participate in their own society.