Teacher at special education school has college hopes for students

A young teacher at a special education school in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province, hopes all her students with disabilities will go to college in the future.

Liu Wencai, who teaches Chinese to hearing-impaired students at Shijiazhuang Special Education School, set a goal for herself to help her students get admitted to colleges in two and a half years.

"It's hard because learning academic subjects for them is more difficult," Liu was quoted as saying by hebei.com.cn, a local media outlet in Hebei.

She teaches Chinese with sign language.

"There's a lot of pressure for me because it's hard to communicate with the students, not to mention teaching them,” Liu said.

She added that sometimes there is no response from students at all after she finishes teaching a class with great passion.

Many Chinese words can't be expressed clearly with sign language, which affects the students' understanding, she said.

To solve the problem, Liu always draws pictures to show what she is trying to explain or describe in class.

"I am the happiest person when my students completely get what I am trying to teach," she said.

Liu describes herself as a former introvert who became more outgoing after being a teacher for special students.

"I used to be shy and unwilling to speak with others, but teaching them forces me to be talkative," Liu said.

"I was eager to help and hope they can adapt to society and be as happy as any normal children," Liu said.