In 1956, for schools for the blind and deaf-mutes, the Ministry of Education set a funding standard that is higher than that for common schools. It also set salary scales for the principals and teachers of such schools that are 15 percent higher as encouragement. From the 1990s, a considerable number of localities have increased the 15 percent subsidy to 25 percent and included it in teachers' pensions. To promote a faster development of special education, the state in 1989 established a special fund for special education, to which the central government has appropriated 23 million yuan every year as a special subsidy for special education in different areas of the country. Local governments have established corresponding subsidy funds.
       A total of 33 secondary special education normal schools (or teacher training centers) have been established across the country. Teachers colleges and universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing and Xi'an have established a special education speciality to train special education teachers. Graduate schools of some universities now enroll students working for a master's degree in special education. In short, a standardized system for the training of special education teachers that is suited to Chinese conditions has taken shape in China; and so has a system providing on-the-job training for special education teachers. In addition, Beijing Teachers University and the Central Institute of Education Science have established research institutes on special education; and some provinces and municipalities directly under the central government have done the same.
       In the year of 2001, the staff number of special education schools in China reached 38,000, and the number of full time teacher reached 28,000 with increase rates of 92 percent and 107 percent compared with the numbers of 1990 respectively. Besides, there were a great number of special education teachers working in ordinary schools teaching special education classes. These phenomena showed the gradual and continuous expansion of our teacher team for special education in China. In recent years, many kinds of short-term training classes have been held and the training of excellent teachers has also been brought into the national "Teacher Project", which enhanced the teaching capability of trained teachers.