The purpose of the conference was to create a forum regarding the development of education service for people with disabilities on the basis of international experience and practice in Vietnam, simultaneously, provide evidence for directive recommendations and solutions to the development of this service in Vietnam in the next period.
Approximately 200 delegates, including foreign ones, attended the conference. They were the representatives of Ministries, the Steering Committee for Education of children with disabilities and children in difficult situations and other departments of the Ministry of Education and Training; scientists from local and foreign research institutes, universities and colleges, representatives of associations of people with disabilities at central and local levels; representatives of international organizations; heads of departments of education and training; managers and teachers of centers supporting the development of inclusive education, pre-school and general education establishments of localities.
85 reports were sent to the conference, including 64 reports published in the Science Journal of HNUE, 21 reports posted in the conference summary report.
There were 35 reports from scientists of foreign universities (Japan, the USA, Ukraine, Poland, Kenya, Thailand,…). This was the conference that attracted the greatest number of reports which Faculty of Special Education of HNUE received in all international conferences on inclusive education, special education.
The content of the reports focuses on four main topics: Access to the development of inclusive education services for people with disabilities, The situation and experience in the development of integrated education services for people with disabilities in Vietnam and in other countries, Model, performance, effectiveness and challenges; Policy and effectiveness, effectiveness and challenges of policies for the development of inclusive education services for people with disabilities in Vietnam, Resource conditions, coordination among stakeholders in the development of inclusive education services for people with disabilities in Vietnam.
The conference discussed and agreed on the following issues:
(i) There are different approaches to the development of an educational support system for people with disabilities based on their needs and their families ‘ones as well as the abilities of the provider of the service.
(ii) In the short term, a number of non-public centers of support services for the disabled have been formed and operated effectively in both small villages and big cities. However, the management of the authorities on the organizational forms of support services for people with disabilities is not clear.
Resource conditions, especially human resources to provide support services for the disabled, are always a key issue to ensure the quality of support services. Fostering the development of human resources are indispensable, but it faces many challenges such as the standard of job placement, the quality assurance of the training (especially the training programs, the professional qualifications of the training and experience of the staff, materials, and equipment).
(iv) Viet Nam has been responsibly and effectively taking on the commitments made to the international community in ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. Learning international experience, and flexible application in accordance with the country's cultural, historical and socio-economic conditions is one of the ways to promote the process fast and efficiently. The lessons learned from this international conference are extremely valuable.
(v) There are many challenges faced in the next period in Viet Nam for the construction and development of an educational support system for people with disabilities, both in science and practice to decide the organizational structure and the policy document system creating legal corridors, ensuring the conditions of human resources, material facilities, equipment and support programs, especially multidisciplinary professional coordination.
Some photos at the conference:
Photos provided by Faculty of Special Education
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hai