The Ministry of Education recently published a document containing recommendations on how to better support children with disabilities and specific educational needs to learn in regular schools at compulsory education level. Five major proposals were included:

1. Establishment of a sound mechanism for needs assessment: County-level government bodies should closely collaborate with branches of China Disabled Persons’ Federation and village/town-level government bodies to identify the educational needs of local children with disabilities at the compulsory education level, invite experts to do needs assessments, and make proper documentation.

2. Implantation of favorable policies for children with disabilities: County-level government bodies should ensure that children with disabilities have adequate access to education in regular schools. Under the same circumstances, priority for admission will be given to children with disabilities. A robust student information management system should also be built to track students’ records, which will help to reduce the dropout rate of children with disabilities.

3. Provision of sufficient support and resource: Sufficient resource rooms should be provided to help students with specific educational needs to learn in regular classroom environments. An adequate number of special education resource centers should be built at provincial, municipal and county levels, to better provide specialized support to regular schools that admit children with disabilities.

4. Provision of special care for students with disabilities: Curriculum adjustments and individualized education plans should be made to better protect students’ physical and psychological health, improve their self-care skills and foster a cooperative learning environment.

5. Faculty development and enhancement: Local governments should designate excellent teachers to work in regular schools admitting children with disabilities and provide adequate incentives for these teachers. A government procurement mechanism should be set up to involve social workers and trained medical professionals with expertise in helping children with disabilities.

These recommendations also applies to educational institutions at the non-compulsory education level, such as kindergartens, senior high schools, vocational schools and higher educational institutions.