Children with disabilities to have easier access to education

According to recently revised regulations on the education of the disabled some steps will be taken to reduce their difficulty in entering school.

Data released by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation in 2014 shows that the literacy rate for children with disabilities of 6 to 14 years old in 2013 was 72.7 percent, much lower than that of other children of that age, which is close to 100 percent.

The measures said that integrated education should be favored as much as possible which means that students with disabilities should be taken into the regular education program to a maximum extent.

Professor Wang Haiping of East China Normal University pointed out that this move doesn’t only indicate that students with disabilities will be more accepted in regular educational environments, but more importantly, that they can enjoy substantially improved education resources, in other words, that their education will be of higher quality.

The measures also stipulate that children and juveniles with disabilities should enter regular schools or special schools to receive compulsory education based on their real acceptable capability. Those who cannot go to school should receive distance education or study at home.

The regulations also set out requirements for teachers of students with disabilities. The teachers designated for special education should obtain teacher qualifications and pass the examinations of special education professional training if they didn’t graduate with a special education major.

Staff involved in special education can enjoy subsidies in their special posts and other advantages. Teachers responsible for students with disabilities’ studying in regular schools should have their work taken into account as part of their performance appraisal and considered as an important basis for wage and position evaluation.