Zhenjiang teaches students with disabilities to hoe their own roe

Students with hearing impairments are honing their baking skills by learning to make various types of desserts at the employment and entrepreneurship incubation base designed for people with disabilities in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, in preparation for their upcoming exams of higher vocational education.

Their teacher surnamed Zhai, with over thirty years of experience in special education, remarked that her students who brim with enthusiasm for baking, learn silently, but just as effectively as children without disabilities.

Two of these silent bakery learners will take the Chinese-style bakery exam of a vocational college of special education next year, a step that could boost their future employment and self-reliance, according to Zhai.

Aiming to provide professional skills for independent living to more students with disabilities, the Zhenjiang Disabled Persons' Federation established the employment and entrepreneurship incubation base last year, in collaboration with the Zhenjiang Special Education Center and the Zhenjiang Special Education School.

This base, formerly the practice training site for the Zhenjiang Special Education School, has expanded its offerings following the new cooperation, making more courses and teachers accessible to the students.

Over 100 students have participated in tailored training sessions that cater to their different types and levels of disabilities since then. Local enterprises have provided opportunities for these trainees to practice and secure future employment.

In addition to bakery, students can take part in lessons such as basic industrial parts-arrangement, laundry and car washing. Three students with intellectual disabilities have successfully found employment at a local car-washing company after receiving training, according to their teacher surnamed Qin.

"Employment for them is a challenging task because of the disabilities", Xu Hengqing, the Party branch secretary of the Zhenjiang Special Education Center said. "Hopefully, the cooperation between local companies and us could help offer better working possibilities to them."

People with disabilities living in the neighborhood can also come to finish some basic industrial parts-arrangements at the base. "Our base not only offers a variety of lessons for students with disabilities, but also welcomes anyone in need from the surrounding area," said Ling Yuduo, the vice principal of Zhenjiang Special Education Center.