There are only 1,600 special schools for China's 60 million handicapped people, making it difficult for many handicapped people to go to school, said a Chinese lawmaker.

"Special education is a very weak link in China's education system," said Wang Xinxian, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), during the annual NPC session in Beijing.

According to Wang, only 370,000 handicapped people are studying in these schools.

"There are no schools for the handicapped in 400 of China's 2, 862 counties," said Wang.

He said during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005), only around 5,000 handicapped people were admitted into colleges and universities annually.

"The situation will be further worsened if they cannot receive school education," said Wang, who is also Vice-Chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Chen Yunying, an NPC deputy, said China still lags behind foreign countries in guaranteeing handicapped children's right to education.

The number of handicapped children is increasing at a rate of more than 200,000 each year in China.

"The government should intensify efforts to protect the rights to education of handicapped people," said Chen.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2006)