At the launching meeting of the National Special Education Resource Center for Autistic Children held on the afternoon of December 11, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Education introduced that autistic children have been included into the scope of special education for overall planning, and continuous efforts will be made to improve the popularization level of compulsory education for autistic children.
It is understood that this year, the Ministry of Education, jointly with the China Disabled Persons' Federation and other departments, issued the "Implementation Plan for the Caring and Promotion of Autistic Children (2024-2028)", proposing to improve the inclusive guarantee mechanism for autistic children and promote the implementation of increasing the per-student public funding standard for special education for autistic students in the compulsory education stage from 6000 yuan to over 7000 yuan per year.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Education said that at present, China has established a monitoring system for the enrollment of disabled students in compulsory education. In accordance with the principles of "precise verification, scientific assessment, and classified placement", efforts will be made to ensure that autistic children are appropriately placed. Cities at the provincial capital level, cities specifically designated in the state plan, and larger cities are encouraged to build special education schools for autistic children to expand the opportunities for autistic children to receive preschool education and vocational education. An exploration will be made to establish a teaching assistant and accompanying reading system for autistic children.
Currently, more than 20 provinces have been promoted to issue the staffing standards for special education teachers. Among them, Shandong Province has clearly defined the teacher-student ratio for the education of autistic children as 1:1.5. Normal universities are encouraged to set up majors in the education of autistic children and offer relevant courses on autism education. In 2023, Nanjing Normal University of Special Education established a major in autism education.
The "Star Project", a special education public welfare project launched this year, allocated 3 million yuan in the first phase, focusing on supporting autism centers to undertake special training for autism education teachers and providing "teaching services to provinces" in the central and western provinces. In addition, a special education teaching award fund project has been established to specifically reward outstanding special teacher groups such as excellent autism education teachers.
