- 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.