Most instruction in the majority of primary schools in Tibet is given in Tibetan. Teaching mathematics, physics and chemistry above the junior middle school level in Tibetan will require a period of perpetration until necessary conditions, such as finding qualified teachers and the compilation and translation of teaching materials, are met. Accordingly, classes above the junior middle school level are currently taught using four formats: first, offering courses in Tibetan and Chinese languages, with all other courses being taught in Tibetan; second, teaching some classes in Chinese and some in Tibetan; third, offering a course in Tibetan language with the rest of the courses being taught in Chinese; fourth, teaching the entire curriculum in Chinese.

Primary and secondary education in Tibet trains students to meet the requirement that they master both Tibetan and Chinese before they graduate from senior middle school. Classes in foreign languages are offered at the junior middle school level and above in schools with the proper conditions. In Tibetan-operated secondary schools and Tibetan classes in other schools elsewhere in China, Tibetan language courses taught by Tibetan teachers are uniformly provided during junior middle school. Teachers independently plan their courses according to the common syllabi for the nation's ordinary high schools, at the same time making allowances for their Tibetan students' actual circumstances.