A teacher gives a student with disability a lesson at Tien Lu School of Rehabilitation and Vocational Training for People with Disabilities in northern Hung Yen Province. (Photo: VNA) Figures from the ministry showed that despite the expanding network ofeducational facilities for people with disabilities, the distribution of thesecentres remained uneven across regions.
Many localities lacked these educational facilities due to a shortage ofstrategic planning.
Reports by the National Special Education Research Centre showed that as of2023, there were 14 inclusive education development support centres, 25provincial-level specialised schools, and 23 district-level specialised schoolsacross the country.
Among these, only 2.9% of schools were designed to provide access for disabledchildren, and just 9.9% had sanitary facilities suitable for people withdisabilities. Only one sixth of primary schools and one tenth of secondaryschools had teachers trained to provide inclusive education for disabledchildren, and only one seventh of kindergarten teachers were trained to carefor and nurture disabled children.
Deputy Minister of Education Ngo Thi Thi Minh said to improve opportunities forindividuals with disabilities in education, the network of specialisededucational facilities and inclusive education development support centres mustbe adequate in terms of structure, quantity and quality to meet the educationalneeds of people with disabilities in all regions of the country.
The specific goal would be to have at least one inclusive education developmentsupport centre in 50% of localities across the nation by 2025 and 100% by 2030.
There are many opinions regarding the issue.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Vietnam suggestedthat in addition to comprehensive solutions, there should be a strong emphasison raising public awareness about inclusive education for disabled children.
The Vietnam Blind Association recommended that individuals with disabilitiesshould have opportunities to work at inclusive education development supportcentres. The Vietnam Deaf Association proposed that the planning should payattention to all levels of education to ensure that people with disabilitieshave opportunities for higher education.
Furthermore, some opinions highlighted the need for additional focus onindividuals with autism and policies to enable disabled individuals to work inbusinesses.
Deputy Minister Minh acknowledged the importance of these contributions, asfeasible and convincing planning was essential for practical implementation.
Planning should have clear criteria for establishing specialised educationalfacilities for people with disabilities and must ensure a correct andcomprehensive understanding of the roles and responsibilities of inclusiveeducation development support centres, she said.
The education official also emphasised the interconnectedness and thechallenges posed by planning and development of specialised databases forpeople with disabilities and the inclusive education development support centresystem.
The ministry has conducted an initial assessment of the current situation andbegun drafting the planning, she added.
However, feedback was required from representatives of relevant ministries andagencies, experts, as well as specialised education institutions. This wasnecessary for comprehensive and feasible planning, she said./.
VNA
