The first part of the exam for Lha Ram Pa Gexe, the highest academic degree for the Gelugba faction of Tibetan Buddhism, has been held in Lhasa, the capital of southwest China's Tibet autonomous region.

The exam was suspended for 16 years after a separatist group headed by the Dalai Lama took advantage of this religious event in 1988 to start a riot.

Six monks with an average age of 70 and from temples like Daipung, Sera and Gandan passed the test after over an hour of debates.

They will be granted the top degree if they pass the dissertation, a formal final test, at a prayer meeting in celebration of the next Tibetan New Year.

The Gexe exam system is a way of acknowledging the academic level of Lamas who have been engaged in studies of Tibetan Buddhism for many years.

Of all the Gexe degrees, the Lha Ram Pa Gexe is the highest.