GENEVA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has made enormous efforts in better protecting women's and children's rights to education, said a Chinese expert here on Monday.

The rights to education for women and children in the region have been guaranteed, which presents a microcosm of the achievements made in human rights development in the region, said Zuliyati Simayi, deputy dean of the College of Politics and Public Administration of Xinjiang University.

She made the remarks at a general debate of the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council, speaking on behalf of the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

"I come from China's Xinjiang and I am an Uyghur. I have been working as a professor in university after I obtained a PhD. And there are many well-educated women like me from different ethnic groups in Xinjiang," she said.

She said that China has developed a series of laws and regulations based on the Constitution to ensure the rights and interests of women and children of all ethnic groups.

The social status of women in Xinjiang has been significantly improved, she said, noting that the proportion of female civil servants has reached nearly 50 percent in the region.

Meanwhile, in the region, the proportion of women working at the education industry has exceeded 64 percent, and the proportion of women engaged in the health and medical industries has exceeded 69 percent, she added.

Through education, women of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have become an important force in promoting economic and social development, she noted.

Xinjiang has increased its investment in education over the past eight years. And currently children in the region have access to 12 to 15 years of free education, she added.