The Policy on Education of the Disabled in Vietnam - The Gaps and Its Impact on the Persons with Disability

Purpose: This paper aims to present a comparative analysis of Vietnam’s current policies and laws to support persons with disabilities (PWD) in education and the international legal framework, to identify the gaps in policies and practices in localities as well as making recommendations on the necessary conditions for effective education for people with disabilities in Vietnam; - Method: Two models of education under study, one inclusive method and one special method for the needed conditions and existing situations. Four factors were taken into account including governance/administration, human resources, financing and coordination. Data were collected through desk research, baseline survey of 63 provinces, and interviews and focus group discussions with education managers, stakeholders from provincial, district and communal levels and with people with disabilities.; - Result: The National Law on Disability and the National Action Plan on Disability (NAP) showed the advancement of Vietnam in securing the rights of persons with disabilities in all aspects of the society, including education. Of those 25 basic articles of the UN CRPD, 25 were referred and applied in the national law on disability and the NAP, proving the transition of approach to support PWD, from charity to right based. Gaps in policy and practices identified by the PWD and local authorities included: no monitoring mechanism, support standard does not meet the need of PWD, a small number of PWD were entitled to the support policy compared to high number of PWD in need of support. Conditions contributing to the effective inclusive education included: multi-sector coordination of services, human resources, financial resources, and plan making for regular support
http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/11126/14578