culture

It has been more than ten years since the founding of Vocational Training School for Persons with Disabilities.

The school has so far given specialized technical and skill education to persons with disabilities to help them make a positive contribution to the prosperity and development of the country as members of society.

Teachers of the school are the past experienced personnel in such fields as electronics, communications, food processing and wood processing. Among them is a researcher who was highly appreciated at national exhibitions of sci-tech achievements.

The school has made e-lecture plans and multimedia in various forms to suit the psychology and physical characteristics of persons with disabilities to use them in education.

In particular, teachers regularly practise sign language to upgrade the teaching methods for people with hearing impairments so as to enhance their cognitive abilities. On the basis of this, they are applying various teaching methods. “During the first lesson, I had a lot of trouble because I was unable to communicate with students with hearing impairments. But now I can understand what they want even at the expression of their eyes and at their body language,” said Hyon Jin Ok, teacher of the school.

The practical training courses including those for the assembly and repair of electronic devices, wood craftsmanship, hairdressing and beauty culture are good opportunities for the students to consolidate what they have learned and acquire various skills.

Graduates of the school fully display their abilities in various fields of society.

Among the graduates is Kim Sung Il, a man with hearing impairments, who was awarded a technical prize and a sci-tech prize respectively at the ninth and tenth Pyongyang exhibitions of musical instruments and was acclaimed for his works at a national sculpture and craftwork festival. A musical instrument maker of the Art Association of the Disabled, he earnestly recollects teachers of the school who made sincere efforts for his development.

“We must be a mother before a teacher. It is our duty to pour affection and tender feelings on the students like a mother treating all her children alike, so that they can develop into excellent persons and competent talents who will contribute to society and the collective,” Ham Song Sim, principal of the school, often says to its teachers.