PE classes render hope and future for NW China's special education school

Source: Xinhua| 2020-12-14 21:42:12|Editor: huaxia

LANZHOU, China, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Right before lunchtime, six Chinese students are concentrating on a 3x3 basketball game on the playground amid spontaneous bursts of applause.

The players are students in a special education school in Lanzhou City, northwest China's Gansu province. Students in this school are orphans born with diseases including cerebral palsy, heart defects and Down's Syndrome.

In recent years, the school has developed a comprehensive curriculum system for disabled children in need, offering a wide range of courses including Chinese literature, mathematics, arts and PE lessons.

"We divide students into groups and teach them different sports events catering to their individual needs, such as basketball, football and gymnastics," said Fang Jie, the 36-year-old PE teacher in the school. "Sometimes, their movements can be uncontrollable, so we need to pay more attention to safety issues."

Xiao Yun, 14, is patting a basketball in the corner of the playground. Born with cerebral palsy, Xiao has problems controlling the movement of her hands and legs, making it difficult for her to sit and walk.

"One, two, three ..." She counted slowly under her breath. The ball slipped out of her hands, she giggled and rolled her wheelchair towards the running ball.

"It took her half of a year to learn how to pat a ball with both hands. Even though she spent much more time in chasing and picking up missed balls, she still looked forward to every PE class and enjoy them all the way through," said Yang Xiaojuan, another PE teacher in the school.

In the rehabilitation room, a group of students are waving their arms with the rhythms. They are having their PE classes by doing rehabilitation exercise.

"To these students with higher degree of disability, the school also develops indoor physical training programs to guarantee their daily exercise hours," said Fang.

So far, students in this school can have five 35-minute PE classes each week. In order to meet students' needs for greater diversity of courses, the school is now planning on recruiting more professional PE teachers.

Zhang Jinjin, head of special education department of the school, said that taking PE lessons can improve the fitness level of disabled students and help with their follow-up rehabilitation.

"Above all, physical exercise helps disabled students learn about teamwork and adds more pleasure and enjoyment to their lives," she said. Enditem

KEY WORDS:
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001395891401