Changsha institution helps its students' dreams take flight

Blindfolded and each holding a crutch, a group of children moved to the beat in perfect coordination in a rehearsal room in Changsha, the capital of Central China's Hunan province.

All the young dancers, also students of a special education school, are visually impaired. Soon they will be performing at the opening ceremony of the upcoming provincial games for the disabled.

Founded in 1908, Changsha Special Education School is one of the oldest schools of its kind in China. It provides preschool rehabilitation, nine-year compulsory education, and secondary vocational education to students with visual and hearing impairments, learning difficulties and developmental disorders.

Based on its rich teaching experience, the school has released a series of research findings to over 300 similar schools nationwide, according to Nie Bing, Party secretary of the school.

In 2005, the school established the Dream of Wings art ensemble with musical instruments, vocal music, dance and other extracurricular training to encourage the comprehensive development of its students.

Zeng Liyuan, head of the troupe, believes by engaging in such training, students can improve physical coordination, build self-confidence and gain a sense of accomplishment.

It also gives the children a chance to display their talent in the spotlight. Over the years, these students have brought back dozens of trophies from art competitions held at home and abroad.

For the visually impaired dancers, the whole process of learning and practicing was quite challenging, especially at the beginning, recalls Chen Lu, dance director of the art ensemble.

"To learn the movements and postures precisely, the students had to touch the bodies of the instructors to imitate them and try to form muscle memory through countless repetitions. They also need to tune their ears to figure out their directions while changing formations," says Chen.

Nian Nian, a 13-year-old dance troupe member, used to suffer due to his severe visual impairment and would be quite hard on himself. But things have changed since he started dancing two years ago.

"I made many friends in the troupe," he says. "I'm a slow learner, but the troupe members and instructors never gave up on me and kept practicing with me, encouraging me to do my best."

China has attached great importance to the education of disabled children. Counties with a population of more than 300,000 have special education schools, and the enrollment rate of disabled children in compulsory education is above 95 percent, according to the Ministry of Education.

Earlier this year, the central government put forward an action plan asking to accelerate the high-quality development of special education during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

It also requires the enrollment rate of disabled children in compulsory education to reach 97 percent by 2025.

The school in Changsha has established tailored vocational courses to prepare students for their future career development. They include fashion design for hearing-impaired students, traditional Chinese medicinal physical therapy for the visually impaired and domestic services courses for students with learning disabilities and developmental disorders.

"By attending the courses, children can learn in advance what skills they should master in a certain profession," says Zeng Qianlan, a teacher at the school.

Li Haixia, whose son is learning to bake at the school, finds the child happier since the course started.

"My son loves baking. He delighted the whole family during the recent Mid-Autumn Festival by bringing home self-made mooncakes, and they tasted so good," Li says, cheerfully.