The National Coordinating Council on Disability (NCCD) was established in 2001. On October 6, 2015, the Prime Minister of Vietnam changed NCCD to the National Council on Disability (NCD), in order to comply with provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Vietnamese government has many legal documents to protect the rights of persons with disabilities (Global Disability Rights Now). Some of the documents are:
- Decree 28/2012/ND-CP dated April 10, 2012 of the Government guiding the implementation of some articles of the Law on Persons with Disability
- Decree 136/2013/ND-CP dated October 21, 2013 of the Government regulating social assistance policies for social protection recipients
- Prime Minister Decision No. 1019/QD-TTg dated August 5, 2012 on the approval of the National Action Plan to support persons with disabilities during 2012-2020
A strong commitment in protecting and ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities by signing as a member of the CRPD in 2010. This is the first law on persons with disabilities that recognized the rights of persons with disabilities to have equal access to services and social inclusion.
Once a disability determination has been received, persons with disabilities are granted disability certificates, which indicate the degree and type of disability. Monthly government allowances are provided to the persons with severe disabilities and persons with moderate disabilities living in the community. Monthly nursing allowances are also distributed for caregivers.
There are barriers to entry into public schools for children with disabilities. Due to being denied access to public schools, many families seek alternative education for their children through special schools or private home tutors (Palmer, Groce, Mont, Nguyen & Mitra, 2015). These alternatives are associated with higher fees that are not affordable by all households. 52.0% of the disabled population (2.70 million people) is receiving a secondary education. 78.3% (70.24 million people) of the total population is receiving a secondary education (Global Disability Rights Now). Individuals with disabilities have very limited access to mainstream vocational training opportunities. Only people with very mild disabilities would be able to access mainstream services. Government officials and people with disabilities seem to assume that vocational training for people with disabilities must be separate.
86% of the disabled population is employed. Vietnam has a quota law that requires businesses to have at least 3% of their workforce be disabled employees. Businesses that do not comply are subject to a fine. The payment is placed in a provincial level Employment Fund for People with Disabilities to support vocational training, employment and entrepreneurship for people with disabilities (International Labour Organization).
Below are some other statistics on disability in Vietnam:
- 16.4% of the disabled population lives in poverty
- 50.5% of the disabled population are female
- 49.5% of the disabled population are male
References
https://www.globaldisabilityrightsnow.org/infographics/disability-vietnam
Palmer, M., Groce, N., Mont, D., Nguyen, O. H., & Mitra, S., The Economic Lives of People with Disabilities in Vietnam, July 21, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133623
Employment-related services for persons with disabilities in Vietnam, Mapping report submitted to the International Labour Organization, http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@asia/@ro-bangkok/@ilo-hanoi/documents/publication/wcms_157937.pdf
November 5, 2018 at 3:05 pm
Hello! I enjoyed your post on Vietnam. First, I was surprised that there was disability certificates. I can’t decide if I think that’s a good idea or not, but clearly for Vietnam it leads to monthly services. I wonder if something like that was established in the United States if it would lead to easier access of services. Second, I am saddened that children with disabilities are denied access to public schools. I wonder why they don’t consider special education services and inclusion instead. Especially since the cost of alternative education is so high.
Great post and I look forward to reading more!
Danielle
November 12, 2018 at 12:29 am
Hi,
You have a lot of information on both the policies, education and employment in Vietnam so it was interesting to see how they institute help for those with disabilities. It seems like since Vietnam has a lot higher rate of employment they are able to have more people with disabilities employed vs my country of research Afghanistan.
It’s good they take care to include and support policies which further the lives of those with disabilities. You said that people with disabilities are denied access to school – there is no equal access law in Vietnam? Overall I think you did great I would just add some headings to make it flow a little better and look a little more polished.
Thanks
Sarah