CRC/C/15/Add.56 page 4 training to the staff, it remains deeply concerned about the inadequate measures adopted to ensure qualitative care to children as required by article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention. 19. The Committee shares the concern expressed by the State party as regards the number of children in China who still do not attend school. It is also concerned about reports that school attendance in minority areas, including the Tibet Autonomous Region, is lagging behind, that the quality of education is inferior and that insufficient efforts have been made to develop a bilingual education system which would include adequate teaching in Chinese. These shortcomings may disadvantage Tibetan and other minority pupils applying to secondary and higher level schools. 20. In the framework of the exercise of the right to freedom of religion by children belonging to minorities, in the light of article 30 of the Convention, the Committee expresses its deep concern in connection with violations of human rights of the Tibetan religious minority. State intervention in religious principles and procedures seems to be most unfortunate for the whole generation of boys and girls among the Tibetan population. 21. The Committee remains concerned that national legislation appears to allow children between the ages of 16 and 18 to be sentenced to death with a two-year suspension of execution. It is the opinion of the Committee that the imposition of suspended death sentences on children constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Further, it is noted that under the Penal Code a juvenile offender aged between 14 and 18 may legally be sentenced to life imprisonment for a particularly serious crime. Although the sentence of life imprisonment may be reduced on the grounds of "repentance" or "merit" and judicial experience in China shows that sentences to life imprisonment can benefit from a mitigation, the Committee wishes to stress that the Convention prescribes that neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below the age of 18. It is the Committee’s view that the aforementioned provisions of national law are incompatible with the principles and provisions of the Convention, notably those of its article 37 (a). 22. Additionally, the Committee remains concerned about the extent to which adequate safeguards are in place within the present system of juvenile justice in China. In this context, the Committee expresses concern with respect to the access of parents during the pre-trial detention of their children, the possibilities for the provision of legal assistance to children, the sufficiency of the time allocated for the preparation of a child’s defence as well as respect for the presumption of innocence and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege, nulla poena sine lege as reflected in article 40, paragraph 2 (a). 23. The Committee shares the State party’s concern that there has been an upsurge in recent years of kidnapping and abduction of children. In this connection, the Committee wishes to express its serious concern about the apparent inadequacy of measures taken to prevent and combat the problems of the sale, trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.