Severe shortage of teachers and support staff for children with disabilities

The planning of the education system for people with disabilities and the support center for inclusive development for the period 2020-2030, with a vision to 2050 (the Planning) recently approved by the Prime Minister sets the goal that by 2030, each province/city must have at least one support center for inclusive education. Facilities and teaching equipment will also be upgraded synchronously to suit each type of disability.

This is considered an important step forward in ensuring that children with disabilities have access to appropriate education. However, the severe shortage of teachers and support staff for children with disabilities remains a major challenge.

The low teacher/disabled child ratio makes teaching difficult.

Currently, there are over 3,300 teachers teaching in specialized educational institutions nationwide, but this number is still much lower than the actual demand. The ratio of teachers to students with disabilities is still low, making teaching difficult. At the same time, many teachers have not received in-depth training in specialized educational methods, leading to limitations in supporting students.

According to the plan, by 2030, the system is estimated to need about 3,300 teachers and 7,400 support staff. By 2050, this number is expected to increase to 4,900 teachers and 10,900 staff. Without strong investment in human resources now, the risk of teacher shortage in the coming years will be very high, directly affecting the quality of education for children with disabilities.

Dr. Ta Ngoc Tri, Deputy Director of the General Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training, said that there needs to be a long-term training strategy for teachers and support staff. In addition, it is necessary to create conditions for teacher training colleges to have specialized training programs, helping teachers have enough skills to meet practical needs. In addition, expanding the specialized education system is not only about increasing the number of schools and classes but also ensuring the quality of training and a suitable learning environment. Therefore, it is necessary to build a flexible system to help children with disabilities access education in the way that best suits their abilities. According to estimates by the Ministry of Education and Training, the goal by 2050 is that the specialized education system will have 12 public facilities and 148 integration support centers nationwide. This will help people with disabilities not only learn but also have the opportunity to develop skills and better integrate into society.

According to Dr. Ta Ngoc Tri, to achieve this goal, the Ministry of Education and Training will focus on a number of solutions such as perfecting policies and support mechanisms in the direction of proposing the Government to continue issuing preferential policies for specialized educational institutions and integration support centers; and having subsidy policies for people with disabilities in difficult circumstances.

In addition, the teaching staff will be developed with the goal of training 900 more teachers and 5,500 support staff by 2030. Pedagogical schools will have separate training programs for teachers of children with disabilities.

Along with that, continue to increase investment in facilities with the orientation that by 2030, all 12 specialized educational institutions and 94 support centers will meet facility standards, ensuring to meet the learning needs of people with disabilities; encourage the establishment of private specialized educational institutions for people with disabilities and private centers to support the development of inclusive education.

In addition, increase the application of technology, develop learning support tools such as audiobooks, software to support the visually impaired, and hearing aids to help people with disabilities access education in the most convenient way; encourage the participation of social organizations and businesses in building, sponsoring, and supporting education for people with disabilities...