North Korea highlighted its education policy for people with disabilities Friday amid continued international criticism over its dire rights situation. A ceremony welcoming new students was held at a vocational school run by the Central Committee of the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled on Thursday, the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said. Participants pledged to help improve education conditions for disabled students and turn them into well-rounded and talented people, the newspaper said. The North has been ramping up its policy for the disabled amid long-standing criticism over its egregious human rights abuses. The North held a ceremony marking the opening of the Korean Rehabilitation Centre for Children with Disability in April and adopted a new law ensuring the equal rights of disabled people in September. But critics say such efforts are a thinly veiled attempt to promote the North as a "normal country," where human rights are guaranteed. An annual report released b y the U.S. State Department in April showed that North Koreans remained exposed to a wide range of human rights abuses last year, including forced repatriations, extrajudicial killings, forced abortion and the "worst forms" of child labor. Source: Yonhap News Agency