Da Nang (VNA) - The Government of Vietnam always accords top priority to theprotection and care of children with disabilities, and looks to create the bestconditions in education for them to integrate well into society, a seniorofficial said December 13.

More than 60 percent of children withdisabilities attended school in the 2016-2017 academic year, and the countryhas developed 14 rehabilitation centres and 97 gifted schools nationwide tocater to children with disabilities, said Nguyen Thi Nghia, Deputy Minister ofEducation and Training.

She was speaking at the opening ceremony of theASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the RegionalWorkshop on Enhanced Access to Education for Children with disabilities held inDa Nang.

The two-day workshop is co-organised by theAICHR, UNICEF, the Vietnam ASEAN National Secretariat under the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training.

It is being attended by 70 representatives ofrelevant ASEAN sectoral bodies, government officials from ASEAN member states,representatives from international organisations, non-governmentalorganisations, associations of people with disabilities, academics, parents andchildren with disabilities.

The workshop is the first ASEAN cross-sectoralinitiative focusing on the right to education for children with disabilities,discussing the challenges and the roles of different stakeholders as well asexperiences within and outside the bloc.

“Vietnam has also approved a United NationsConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014, and issued lawson education, children and persons with disabilities. The Government has alsocome up with many policies and action plans on ensuring the rights of childrenand persons with disabilities,” Nghia said.

Vietnam has about 6.7 million people withdisabilities, of which 1.3 million are children.

Ambassador Nguyen Thi Nha, the representative ofVietnam at the AICHR, emphasised the importance of providing learningopportunities to one of the most vulnerable groups of children.

She said the workshop was the fourth meeting ofthe task force on mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD)in the ASEAN Community. The task force is working on the draft of a regionalaction plan to mainstream the rights of PWDs in ASEAN hopefully to be launchedin 2018, she said.

Yoshimi Nishino, Deputy Representative of UNICEFVietnam, highlighted the significance of inclusive education for children withdisabilities and stressed UNICEF’s commitment to work with the Government toensure that “no one is left behind”.

“The ASEAN Vision 2025 shows that members arecommitted to creating an inclusive community with a high quality of life andaccess to opportunities for all, including persons with disabilities.

“I am sure the common commitment among ASEANgovernments towards persons with disabilities will facilitate and improve bothpolicy development and enforcement at the regional level. Effective regionalco-operation will in turn lead to concrete and measurable success in thepromotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, includingchildren,” she said.-VNA