"You are not admitted, because you can’t see"

The blind school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s 5 million person business centre, looks after blind children from kindergarten to grade nine of secondary school. A total of 176 blind students and 77 low-vision students attend integrated education or special classes in 12 public schools. They study together with children who are able to see. One of these pupils is 12-year-old Nhu. She wants to further her schooling as much as she can and hopes to complete both secondary school and high school. Later, she wishes to become a teacher for visually disabled children, like herself.

Massage Therapy Courses

CBM’s partner has established a course in Vietnamese traditional massage to provide a job prospect to at least some of the visually impaired young adults. “Normal massage services won’t let blind people work for them. You just can’t get a job with them, because one can’t see. They won’t take blind people,” says Anh Tuan. The 18-year-old woman is a former apprentice of Nguyen Dinh Chieu School’s vocational training department. More than 40 massage therapists can earn a living by working there. Besides providing education and vocational training, Nguyen Dinh Chieu School serves as a resource centre to the South of Vietnam. The school cooperates with universities in teacher training and with other schools in developing their education schedules. In addition, Braille textbooks, computers, and other learning materials for visually impaired students are provided.

In Vietnam, only 7% of about 6,000 blind children under the age of 15 are enrolled in school, according to Nguyen Dinh Chieu School. Many children with visual disabilities do not get access to education because they are not accepted in ordinary schools or simply cannot afford schooling. Therefore, the belief that all children have the right to education still needs to be realised by legal means and administrative measures. CBM’s partner promotes inclusive education for visually disabled and blind children in Ho Chi Minh City, since learning and living together with non-disabled children contributes to the inclusion of people with disabilities in society.

Awareness towards inclusive education in Vietnam is already on the rise; the governmental Department of Education and Training encourages ordinary schools to admit children with visual impairments, if they can provide the appropriate support. This is an important step forward, since inclusion requires input by everyone—governments, the local community of people with disabilities, parents, teachers, and the students themselves.

Further information: Impairments - Irreversible and Avoidable Blindness
Go back: Project Reports

External Links:
Information on inclusive education is provided by Disabled Peoples International
DPI Position Paper on Inclusive Education

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
UNESCO Education for All website

The BBC reports about the school, CBM's partner maintains in Ho-Chi-Minh-City, at: BBC UK Worldservice