Helping children with disabilities better integrate into the community

In addition to regular activities of health care, rehabilitation, assistance in accessing education, legal aid, etc., Binh Duong Provincial People's Committee issued many plans and decisions to take care of children with disabilities. As a result, disabled children’s lives in the province continues to be improved.

 Disabled children in the province receive gifts on annual holidays and Tet festival.

Achieve multiple targets

Ha Minh Trung, Deputy Director of Provincial Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, said: “In 2019-2023, implementing the Project to support children with disabilities to access protection, care and education services in the community in 2019-2025, the province has basically achieved goals, such as 80% disabled children are under child protection, receive the care and education services in the community; 60% disabled children are supported with health care and rehabilitation services, are equipped with appropriate knowledge and skills for community integration; 80% of parents and caregivers of children with disabilities are provided with knowledge and skills to support children with disabilities in accessing protection, care and education services in the community…”.

In addition, 80% staff at establishments providing services related to child protection, care and education, social organizations related to children with disabilities; officials and collaborators working with children with disabilities are provided with knowledge and skills on protection, care and education of this group. Besides, 50% of districts, towns and cities established a network to link protection, care and education services in the community and pilot programs of disabled children support services.

80% of training units provide disabled children-appropriate educational services; advise appropriate educational services for disabled children; pilot implementation of education model in the community for 70% of children with disabilities; meet 60% of the demand for cultural, sports and tourism activities for disabled children; organize cultural, sports and tourism activities to ensure community integration for children with disabilities.

However, there are still some difficulties in taking care of children with disabilities in the province. For example, the support of vocational training and job creation for people with disabilities is not adequate, and some small and medium enterprises are still hesitant to accept workers with disabilities. Sports and arts clubs for people with disabilities assigned to be established at commune level is still limited and incomplete according to the set objectives. The determination of disability degree for children is still omitted, leading to the fact that they have not been granted a disability certificate, so they have not been entitled to allowances for people with disabilities as well as education for students with disabilities.

Many activities to take care of children with disabilities

Mr. Ha Minh Trung said that in order to take good care of children with disability, Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has collaborated with localities to enhance propagation to raise awareness and responsibility of family and society. This is the most important task and content in the construction of the project. Thereby, the department compiled propagation materials and released 175,000 publications on skills to assist children with disability in access to protection, care and education services in the community, policies and laws concerning children with disability; organized 90 training courses on policies concerning children with disability with about 8,500 participants.

Regarding health care, nutrition, rehabilitation, the department ensures the opening of monitoring books, management of examination and rehabilitation, purchase and issuance of health insurance cards for 100% disabled children in the area. Regarding education and vocational training, 100% of children at educational institutions receive health care support, inclusive education counseling, and are provided with knowledge and skills to integrate into the community. Teachers and staff of the education training sector regularly receive professional training in inclusive education, and are entitled to support regimes and policies as participating in education and teaching for children with disability...

In addition, the mobilization of resources from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals in order to effectively implement the comprehensive care and development program for children with disability in their first years of life has been maximized, and has achieved some achievements, such as cooperation with Fund "For Children with Disabilities in Vietnam" to give hundreds of gifts every year; free medical examination and treatment and free medicines for 190 children with disability. Every year, the department reviews and registers the needs of children with disability in the community for Provincial People's Committee to consider and survey the actual circumstance of each child. Thereby, the province donated dozens of bicycles, hundreds of scholarships and thousands of Tet gifts to children with disability.

Total number of children with disabilities (from 1 to 16 years old) in the province is currently 1,815, including 1,169 boys and 646 girls. The number of children with disabilities belonging to poor households is 69 children, and the number of near-poor households is 15 children. In 2019-2023 period, with the local budget and campaign funding, Binh Duong province has taken care of disabled children, with total expenditure of nearly 19 billion VND. In which, the campaign budget funded about 13 billion VND.

 Reported by Quang Tam - Translated by Ngoc Huynh