Xinjiang training center grads refute rumors from West

Question 3: According to the white paper Vocational Education and Training in Xinjiang, the centers provided courses in standard spoken and written Chinese, understanding of the law, vocational skills and deradicalization. Could any trainee share with us what he or she has learned from those courses? And how have they benefited from the knowledge and skills acquired from the courses?

Answer: My name is Almira Ablat. I live in Wensu county, Aksu prefecture. I am a graduate from a vocational education and training center. I got to know some people with extremist thoughts in 2016. From then on, we often got together, watched and listened to terrorist and extremist videos, and even showed them to other people. Influenced by religious extremist teachings, I no longer sang or danced like I used to do, and daydreamed about "killing kafirs and becoming a jihadist martyr so that I can go to heaven". I became more and more unsocial and eccentric with increasingly extreme behavior, as if I had changed into another person.

Teachers at the center were very conscientious and responsible. They taught us to write and read Chinese one character after another. My Chinese language proficiency improved a lot with their help. Since I was quick in learning, our teacher asked me to be the class commissary in charge of studies to assist him in teaching management. He also encouraged me to help with my classmates' studies. Thanks to my Chinese language proficiency and teaching management experience, I got a job at an education and training institution and signed a labor contract with the employer after graduating from the center. Now I earn about 3,500 yuan per month from the job.

I used to know nothing about the law and I couldn't distinguish whether the things that religious extremists said were right or wrong. At the center, I learned laws and regulations such as the Chinese Constitution, Criminal Law, Marriage Law, Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, Counter-terrorism Law, and Regulations of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Religious Affairs. Now I know what is legal and what is illegal, and what I can do and cannot do. What the extremists wanted us to do was illegal, and if I hadn't learned the laws and regulations, I might have committed a crime.

We had a colorful life in our spare time. There were also many extracurricular classes, such as calligraphy, literature and art, sports and Chinese chess, which we could choose to attend according to our own interests. I chose the course of literature and art, and gradually I became more outgoing and opened my heart to others. I also learned the skills of hairdressing and beauty services. Now I always get dressed up and then go to work. And my good mood makes my students happy too. My parents are happy about my change, and they said that their happy daughter is back.

I want to tell everyone that it was the vocational education and training center that helped me realize the dream of being a teacher. I felt very proud when children called me teacher. Now I have a stable income and I live with dignity. I am very happy and confident about my future. I will tell the story to my students, directing them onto the right path to a healthy and happy life.