Introduction
In order to develop the education opportunities available to people with disability in China, and explore modern open and distance education for the disabled, the School for the Disabled of the China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) was officially founded in December 2002 (the unveiling ceremony was held in February 2004) with the approval of the Ministry of Education. The School is based in Shenzhen, and is managed by Shenzhen Radio and TV University.
By fully leveraging the educational resources of radio and TV universities across the country, and the system and policy advantages of the National Disabled Persons’ Federation, the School for the Disabled offers undergraduate and junior college continuing education and non-degree continuing education for the disabled and people working for disabled causes. A relatively complete system of distance education for the disabled has gradually been established, making great contributions to building a learning society in which all the people strive to learn and pursue life-long learning. As of spring 2015, the School for the Disabled has established 45 branches and teaching centres across the country. A total of 12,502 students have been enrolled at the School.
The School has established a Digital Media major for deaf students and a Social Work major for the visually impaired. In addition, 11 junior college subjects have been established, including English for Business, English Education, Accounting, Law, and Online Marketing. Three subjects have been set up for undergraduates, including Advertising, Social Work, and Law. Course resource construction is carried out according to the professional course system and the learning needs of the disabled. A total of 28 textbook series have been published. More than 400 online teaching courses have been produced, and the number of sign language teaching videos has reached nearly 100 hours.
In December 2012, the CCRTVU School for the Disabled was officially renamed the School for the Disabled of the Open University of China (OUC). So far, more than 5,400 people from all walks of life have graduated, becoming the backbone of disabled causes in China. Through their study, they develop self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-improvement. Li Wenjun from Shenyang School is a model worker and a start-up leader for the disabled in Shenyang. In 2008, he was invited to meet with then President Hu Jintao. Dong Ming from Wuhan School is an image ambassador for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. During her volunteer work at the Water Cube, then Premier Wen Jiabao personally wrote an inscription for her. Li Hanhua from Guangdong Jiangmen Teaching Centre achieved great results in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, obtaining one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal. He was invited to meet with then Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee Wang Yang. Yang Bozun from the OUC School for the Disabled of Tianjin RTVU was a champion at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Pan Shengquan, who works in digital media design and production at the Shenzhen School, is a deaf-mute student, who has opened a start-up design company. All of these students not only realized their dream of attending university, but also made use of their knowledge and skills to serve and give back to society. Their practical deeds have won the respect and recognition of society, improving their quality of life.
History
On November 26, 2002, after a discussion by the Party Committee of CCRTVU and filing in the Ministry of Education, CCRTVU School for the Disabled was formally established, with its base in Shenzhen.
On April 13, 2003, CCRTVU reviewed the subjects of Digital Media and Social Work at CCRTVU School for the Disabled.
On February 16, 2004, CCRTVU School for the Disabled was officially unveiled.
On February 16-18, 2004, a working conference on the education of the disabled was held at CCRTVU School for the Disabled.
On April 30, 2004, CCRTVU School for the Disabled held its first opening ceremony.
In May 2004, CCRTVU Nanjing School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony.
In September 2004, CCRTVU Qingdao School for the Disabled was founded.
On October 24, 2004, CCRTVU Jiangmen Teaching Centre for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony, and the Digital Media Design and Production major was established. The first 43 students attended the opening ceremony.
In December 2004, CCRTVU Harbin School for the Disabled was established.
On March 19, 2005, the Zhengzhou RTVU teaching site of CCRTVU School for the Disabled was unveiled.
On May 19, 2005, the unveiling and opening ceremony of the Wuhan teaching site of CCRTVU School for the Disabled was held.
On July 6, 2005, CCRTVU Guangzhou School for the Disabled held an opening ceremony in Guangzhou.
On August 6, 2005, a teaching conference for CCRTVU School for the Disabled was held at Heilongjiang RTVU.
On September 19, 2005, CCRTVU Ningbo School for the Disabled held the opening ceremony for its Digital Media Design and Production major.
On February 9, 2007, the Baotou Teaching Centre of CCRTVU Inner Mongolia School for the Disabled was founded. Vice Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor Lian Su attended the ceremony.
On November 27, 2007, CCRTVU School for the Disabled held its first graduation ceremony.
On May 24, 2008, CCRTVU Shenyang School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony.
On June 24, 2008, CCRTVU Dalian School for the Disabled was founded. Vice Mayor of Dalian Zhu Chengqing attended the unveiling ceremony.
On July 29, 2008, CCRTVU Inner Mongolia School for the Disabled was unveiled.
On September 10, 2008, Premier Wen Jiabao met Dong Ming, a student from CCRTVU School for the Disabled. Wen Jiabao personally wrote an inscription for her “Dong Ming: Broken in body but firm in spirit”.
On September 20, 2008, CCRTVU Xiamen School for the Disabled held its unveiling and opening ceremony.
In October of 2008, Yancheng Teaching Centre of CCRTVU Jiangsu School for the Disabled was unveiled.
On October 19, 2008, a welcome ceremony for the freshman class of 2008 was held.
On November 8, 2008, the working conference of CCRTVU School for the Disabled was held in Shenzhen.
On July 6, 2009, the Deyang Teaching Centre of CCRTVU School for the Disabled was founded.
In September of 2009, Liuzhou Teaching Centre of CCRTVU Guangxi School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony and the opening ceremony for its junior college class of 2009.
On September 21, 2009, CCRTVU Guangxi School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony and the First Opening Ceremony of “Sunshine Class” of Distance Higher Education for the Disabled in Nanning.
On October 23, 2009, CCRTVU Xi’an School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony.
On November 4, 2009, CCRTVU Tianjin School for the Disabled held its unveiling and opening ceremony.
On December 31, 2009, CCRTVU Inner Mongolia School for the Disabled was approved as a "National Demonstration Teaching Site".
On March 29, 2010, the School for the Disabled of Gansu RTVU was founded. Vice Governor of Gansu Province Zhang Xiaolan attended the unveiling ceremony.
On May 14, 2010, an opening ceremony for the vocational training class for full-time staff members at the Shenzhen Community of the Disabled was held.
On August 25, 2010, Hu Xinsheng and Han Gaofeng from the School for the Disabled at Shenzhen RTVU were awarded the 2010 “Bank of Communications’ Gardener Award for Special Education”. The award ceremony was held at East China Normal University.
On September 27, 2010, CCRTVU Chengdu School for the Disabled was founded. The first enrollment of one hundred students with disability attended the opening ceremony of the first "sunshine class".
In October of 2010, the Ma’anshan Teaching Centre of CCRTVU Anhui School for the Disabled o was founded.
On October 19, 2010, the Kunshan Teaching Centre of CCRTVU School for the Disabled held its unveiling and opening ceremony.
In November of 2010, the Lianyungang Learning Centre of the School for the Disabled held its opening ceremony and the inaugural ceremony for the freshman class.
In April of 2011, CCRTVU Fangchenggang Teaching Centre of the School for the Disabled of was founded.
On May 10, 2011, Cheng Yuenan from CCRTVU Shenzhen School for the Disabled was chosen as a torchbearer to participate in the torch relay ceremony at Shenzhen University for the 26th Summer Universiade.
On May 10, 2011, CCRTVU Changchun School for the Disabled was unveiled and the opening ceremony for the 2011 spring semester was held.
On June 8, 2011, the Zhuhai Teaching Centre of CCRTVU School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony.
On September 9, 2011, Wu Rong, a teacher from CCRTVU Guangzhou School for the Disabled was awarded the 2011 “Bank of Communications Gardener Award for Special Education”.
On September 20, 2011, Dong Ming, a student from CCRTVU School for the Disabled was selected as a national moral model.
In November of 2011, the Baise Teaching Centre of CCRTVU Guangxi School for the Disabled was unveiled.
On September 7, 2012, Guan Xiqin, a teacher from CCRTVU Xi’an School for the Disabled was awarded the 2012 “Bank of Communications Gardener Award for Special Education”.
On October 18-20, 2012, the teaching management conference of CCRTVU School for the Disabled was held in Xiamen.
On December 3, 2012, the OUC School for the Disabled held its unveiling ceremony.
In March of 2013, the Zhoukou Teaching Centre of the OUC School for the Disabled was founded.
On May 8, 2013, an expert panel reviewed the cultivation plan for the Online Marketing major (for junior college students) and Digital Media Design and Production.
On May 19, 2013, OUC Xinjiang School for the Disabled was founded. The first enrollment of 113 freshmen and nearly 200 department heads from Xinjiang RTVU attended the unveiling ceremony and the opening ceremony.
In September of 2013, the Panyu Teaching Centre of the OUC School for the Disabled was founded.
On October 16-18, 2013, the OUC School for the Disabled participated in the 25th ICDE World Conference. Vice President of the OUC and Director of the OUC School for the Disabled Yan Bing was invited by the Organizing Committee of the 25th ICDE World Conference to serve as the host for the venue of “education for the disabled”.
On October 28, 2013, Qu Hui from the OUC Shenzhen School for the Disabled, Yang Guobin from the OUC Inner Mongolia School for the Disabled and Peng Tao from the OUC Chengdu School for the Disabled were awarded the 2013 “Bank of Communications Gardener Award for Special Education”.
In March of 2014, the Wulanchabu Teaching Centre of the OUC School for the Disabled was founded.
In March of 2014, the Bazhou Teaching Centre of the OUC Xinjiang School for the Disabled was founded.
In March of 2014, the OUC Anhui School for the Disabled was founded.
In March of 2014, the Huizhou Teaching Centre of the OUC School for the Disabled was founded.
In March of 2014, the Xinzhou Teaching Centre of the OUC Wuhan School for the Disabled was founded.
On the morning of May 16, 2014, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of China, and President of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping met in Beijing with the Fifth National Commendation Conference for Collectives and Individuals, who were honored as national role models for their self-reliance. Cai Cheng, a student from the OUC Tianjin School for the Disabled received the award, and was received by General Secretary Xi Jinping and other national leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
On October 27, 2014, Ping Fan, a teacher from the OUC Tianjin School for the Disabled was awarded the 2014 “Bank of Communications Gardener Award for Special Education”.