Vietnam responds to 2014 Global Action Week
Vietnam launched its nationwide activities for the 2014 Global Action Week in central Thua Thien-Hue province on May 6.
During the week, themed “Equal Right, Equal Opportunity: Education and Disability”, a number of events will be held to raise public awareness of the importance of education for people with disabilities and their right to access it.
The week, which lasts until May 13, also aims to promote the implementation of policies, programmes and measures to help the disabled overcome barriers to have equal rights and opportunity in education and life.
Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia stressed society’s responsibility to remove barriers for the full integration of disabled citizens.
She called on authorities, domestic and foreign organisations, family members and the community to better support disabled people, enabling them to comprehensively integrate into the community.
Education in Vietnam has seen considerable progress, with an increasing number of integrated children and improved quality of education for the disabled, she said.
Katherine Muller-Marine, Chief Representative of the UNESCO office in Vietnam, said that the organisation of the week reflected Vietnam’s commitment to not only improve access, but also ensure a quality education that suits to all people.
Vietnam has put in place legal frameworks in assisting education on integration for disabled children over the past decade, she added.
In Vietnam, there are about 6.7b million disabled people, including 1.3 million children.
The Global Action Week is a worldwide annual campaigned organised by the Global Campaign for Education to raise awareness of the importance of education for all and to mobilise support from the international society to reach the goal of education for all.