The China Disabled Persons' Federation Joins Hands with the Open University of China to Promote Distance Education for People with Disabilities

alt To improve the teaching quality of distance education for people with disabilities, and to upgrade the overall teaching management of the School for the Disabled of the Open University of China (OUC), we have carried out the selection for national model tutorial centres or schools in 2009.Three branch schools –Inner Mongolia School, Shenzhen School and Wuhan School- were selected. Each of these three branch schools was awarded a special subsidy of

100,000 yuan from the OUC. Also the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) has awarded a further 100,000 yuan of its special funds to each of these three schools to advance their facilities and equipment,aiming at promoting the development of distance education for people with disabilities - together with the OUC. Already these funds have been transferred to the schools.

alt

Premier Wen Jiabao presents his personal written letter of encouragement to Dong Ming, a student at the School for the Disabled of the OUC

Since its founding in 2002 and unveiling in 2004, the School for the Disabled of the OUC has received great support from the CDPF. Nearly six years of teaching practice and exploration have seen remarkable progress in the OUC education for people with disabilities. To date, 31 tutorial centers have been established in provincial capitals and major cities, offering two undergraduate programmes of Social Work and Advertising, and four junior college programmes of Digital Media Design and Production, Accounting, English and Social Work. The total student enrollment to date is 4,180, and 1,113 of these have graduated.

The implementation by the OUC of distance education for people with disabilities has opened an effective and innovative way to meet the increasing need of education for all those living with disabilities in China, and to improve their capabilities to participate equally in their communities. All our efforts have received positive response and great attention from all walks of life, resulting in good social benefit for the schools and for those with disabilities.

By Bo Jin,the OUC