6 projects winning gold! What do disabled athletes in Shanghai rely on to win?, Team total score second in the country | Competition | Gold Medal
"Ranking has come out, you are the number one in the country!" At around 8am on June 29th, Yu Sha, who was having breakfast at a hotel, received a message from staff members of the Shanghai Disabled Persons' Federation. At the closing National Disability Vocational Skills Competition that day, he won the championship in the network information security project and was the only full scorer in this competition. He didn't even finish breakfast when he received the news, so he told his friends the good news as soon as possible.
The 7th National Disability Vocational Skills Competition was held in Jinan from June 27th to 29th. A total of 950 contestants from all over the country participated in this competition, setting a new record in scale. In this competition, the contestants from the Shanghai delegation fought bravely and achieved fruitful results: ranked second in total score and won the Excellent Organization Award. In 17 participating projects, CAD drawing, computer programming, text processing, coffee blending, network information security, bamboo weaving and other 6 projects all won first place.
This quadrennial competition provides a platform for skill training and entrepreneurship employment for many disabled people in Shanghai. What kind of stories did Shanghai athletes experience behind the competition? What signals do competition events release for employment of people with disabilities? What other problems do disabled people in Shanghai face in skills training and employment?
Congenital ability is not a threshold or limitation
"The last question took a long time. I thought I could finish fourth at most, but I didn't expect to be the champion. I'm really happy!" When I learned about the ranking and the reporter's review of the competition, Yu Sha was still a bit overjoyed. As a first-time participant in the national competition, this result greatly exceeded his expectations. You should know that due to congenital disability, Yu Sha completed more than 5 hours of competition on the field with just one right hand on the computer.
Yu Sha, born in Shanghai, is an orphan who, with a tenacious spirit of hard work, pursued his studies all the way and was admitted to university to study computer science and technology. Later, he found his desired position through the special recruitment of disabled individuals in Shanghai government agencies and institutions, and engaged in network security work. After starting to prepare for the competition in the first half of this year, he, like many athletes, often engaged in intense training from 8am to 10pm. Even two days before the competition, everyone was still practicing nervously, sometimes having to train in the hotel until one or two in the morning before going to bed. Yu Sha sighed to the reporter, "My story may prove that innate ability is not the threshold and limitation for people with disabilities, but more importantly, the willingness to actively strive for progress."
For people with disabilities, the National Disability Vocational Skills Competition is an extremely rare platform to showcase their abilities. Under high-intensity competition, the competition also puts higher requirements on the professional skills of athletes. Chen Lulei, a contestant from Yangpu, Shanghai, is the store manager and operation training R&D engineer of Bear Claw Coffee. She won the first place in the coffee blending project this time. "Continuously working hard and focusing on doing something well is not easy for people with disabilities," Chen Lulei said. The competition site required a total of 10 cups of coffee with different flavors, which was very tense. When practicing, ordinary people can rely on the sound of the machine's vibration to determine the degree of passing, but if they cannot hear the sound, they must find another way to overcome difficulties with double the effort. "One minute on stage, ten years of hard work off stage, and finally realizing my dream, I think it's worth it."
Contestants Chen Hao and Jie Ting in the tea art competition are practicing recognizing tea in a hotel room. They need to write down the categories and origins of 25 types of tea within 8 minutes.
Compared to other contestants, Chen Xuefeng, a 41 year old Shanghai athlete, looks more mature, but his age is not a limit to improving his skills. Although it is his first time participating, he still managed to pass the competition and qualified for the national competition after several rounds of competition, winning first place in the text processing project. At the age of 12, Chen Xuefeng experienced an accident that resulted in a disability in his right leg, and later entered the company to work as an office worker. By chance, the street recommended him to sign up and give it a try. When he was most dedicated, he practiced for more than ten hours every day, including proficiently using office software such as Word and Excel. "I really want to bring glory to Shanghai!" Chen Xuefeng said. Text processing requires a lot of practice, and to be honest, it's tiring. However, after hard training and professional guidance from teachers, the effort and reward are directly proportional.
It is reported that among the 35 Shanghai athletes participating in this competition, 27 of them ranked in the top eight. According to the competition regulations, 11 of them will be awarded the title of "National Technical Expert" after being approved by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The reporter noticed that many contestants' job responsibilities are actually unrelated to the participating projects and are purely driven by personal interests. For example, hearing impaired contestant Jie Ting, who participated in the tea art project, works as a marketing assistant for a foreign enterprise. By chance, she was invited by a friend to drink tea and became very interested in tea art. Later, she signed up for the competition.
For the competition, Jie Ting's mentality is very relaxed. She uses sign language to tell disabled people to choose more yuan for employment
Compared with the able-bodied people, the jobs available to the disabled are relatively simple and limited. However, with the popularization of new technologies and new business forms such as the Internet, the employment fields of the disabled are becoming more and more diverse. This can also be seen from the project setting of this year's contest: compared with the last contest, this year, nine new projects, including network information security, drone control, 3D printing, and Internet marketing, have been added, and many "Internet access" projects have been added.
"The skills contest, in addition to competing skills, is also a kind of guidance for employment." Chen Dongyuan, director of the Education and Employment Department of the Municipal Disabled Persons' Federation, told reporters that the western cooking, network information security, drone control, Internet marketing and other projects in this contest were the first team sent by the Shanghai delegation, and professional teachers were equipped for training. For example, drone control technology can be used for job development for people with disabilities, as well as new projects such as electrical installation and 3D printing, reflecting the entry of people with disabilities into advanced manufacturing industries for employment.
The contestants have a deeper understanding of the changes in employment trends. Yu Sha told reporters that he originally thought the cybersecurity project he was participating in was a niche and unpopular project, but he didn't expect a total of 30 people competing with him on the same stage in the national competition. In Yu Sha's view, with the increasing level of informatization in society, people attach more importance to network security, and people with disabilities in related positions can also be competent. "Although I have a physical disability, I don't have any disadvantages in my professional skills. I also take the initiative to learn and communicate with colleagues, and my work efficiency will not be affected."
On the eve of the competition, nail art contestants Xie Jiaping and Han Xiyu were practicing in the room, familiarizing themselves with the feel.
In this competition, hearing-impaired athlete He Zhongming from Pudong won the eighth place in the drone control event. As a photography enthusiast, he started working with drones in 2018 and has since been unstoppable. In his view, technological progress has created more employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Taking drones as an example, their application prospects are very broad, such as in logistics and express delivery, land surveying, resource detection, etc. Through appropriate learning and preparation, people with disabilities can also find employment opportunities in the field of drones.
Will it be difficult for people with disabilities to learn drones? He Zhongming said, "There may be some challenges, but they are not insurmountable." Taking hearing impairment as an example, it may affect effective communication with other operators or team members, which may make it difficult to share information, instructions, or receive instructions. However, if it is personal control, there is actually no difference, and "even deaf experts play very smoothly.". In addition, knowledge of flight principles, remote control operations, photography, and videography can be obtained through participating in training courses, online education platforms, or self-study.
For some physically disabled people, the Internet also gives them the opportunity to work without leaving home. Zhu Bing, a contestant from Chongming, suffered from leg disability due to polio. In 2020, he participated in online live training organized by the Disabled Persons' Federation and won the fourth place in the live sales project nationwide in this competition. In his view, the threshold for online live streaming is not high. With just a mobile phone, simple expressions can be made, which can be used for live streaming sales and showcasing the charm of people with disabilities. Zhu Bing will promote disability policies and help those in need during his daily live broadcasts, with over 100 people online each time.
"In the past, disabled friends may have thought that public work was more suitable for able-bodied people, but now people have found that platforms have strong inclusiveness, and people with disabilities can also live, without the feeling of being inferior." Zhu Bing found that in the past two years, more and more disabled friends have entered the online live streaming industry, and even deaf and mute people live in sign language. If the traffic is high, they can also increase their income by selling products. "At the beginning, the profit may be low because the audience doesn't understand you. After a period of time, as long as you persist, there will be rewards."
Strengthen skill training to improve employment level
One of the purposes of skill competitions is to further enhance the vocational skills of people with disabilities through competition and practice, thereby helping them achieve high-quality employment. "What exactly does' high-quality employment 'mean? I believe its connotation is high skill requirements, high added value, and stability. In other words, it means obtaining higher income by improving skills." Chen Dongyuan said bluntly.
This concept has been well interpreted in bamboo weaving projects. In this year's competition, the national champion of this event was won by Yan Sumei from Shanghai. Yan Sumei is a person with low vision and was ranked third nationwide in the previous competition. Recalling when she first received bamboo weaving training from the District Disabled Persons' Federation in 2016, she thought that "bamboo weaving is a bamboo basket for weaving and buying vegetables." However, she did not expect it to be a more refined bamboo thread and porcelain intangible cultural heritage craft, with high technical requirements. She had to study for at least a year to reach the level of being able to sell.
Xu Cuiyan was the national champion of the bamboo weaving project in the previous competition, and she showcased bamboo weaving handicrafts on site
"Bamboo weaving was originally a practical tool for weaving baskets, selling for only a few dozen to twenty yuan. Nowadays, bamboo weaving is made of fine bamboo, which combines practicality and artistry. One can be sold for two to three hundred yuan, and after deducting the cost, people with disabilities can earn about 100 yuan, greatly increasing the added value," Chen Dongyuan told reporters.
But high value-added products also place higher demands on the abilities of people with disabilities. According to data provided by the Municipal Disabled Persons' Federation to reporters, there are currently around 120000 people with disabilities in the working age group in Shanghai, and more than two-thirds of them have been employed in the same unit for 24 consecutive months, indicating strong employment stability. But there are also some people with disabilities who hope to obtain higher incomes and suffer from skill deficiencies or insufficient skill levels, resulting in structural unemployment.
The importance of skill training is self-evident. Xu Cuiyan, who won the championship of the previous bamboo weaving project, told reporters that she had encountered multiple obstacles when looking for a job before. In 2011, she was exposed to intangible cultural heritage bamboo weaving through training opportunities provided by the Disabled Persons' Federation. Now, she has joined the studio to train more students, ranging from those in their 20s to 50s. "We have also encountered those who give up after studying for a while, thinking that they won't see any benefits in the short term. In fact, the most important thing is to be patient, calm, and willing to persist, and there will definitely be rewards."
Almost all the contestants who participated in this year have participated in training provided by various levels of disability federations, so they have embarked on the fast lane of skill improvement. "Shanghai provides various free training opportunities every year, and I have participated in various fields such as programming, IT networking, photography and videography." Chen Xuefeng believes that training also provides a platform for people with disabilities to communicate and learn. He has also joined many WeChat groups through training, where everyone shares employment information and experience activities from different regions, greatly expanding the range of skills and career choices. "Opportunities are not lacking, the key is for people with disabilities to have the willingness to improve their own abilities."
"From our research, it can be seen that disabled people with skills and high education have higher employment stability." Chen Dongyuan told reporters that as of May this year, the city has completed more than 1400 training sessions for disabled people. The next step is to continue to strengthen vocational training, recommend employment for disabled people who have received excellent training, and expand more employment opportunities suitable for disabled people. The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Disabled Employment Service Center stated that they will actively implement a new round of vocational skills training policies for disabled people in the future. According to policy requirements, they will further enhance the targeting of vocational skills training projects, explore a number of suitable positions and projects for disabled people's training and employment in the city, and meet the diverse training needs of disabled people.
