Nation lacks teachers for autistic kids

The public have recently raised concerns over lacking teachers in special education field that meets the unique needs of a child with a disability. The situation is worse when number of students of special education teacher schools who quit the field after graduating has increased.

Moreover, fewer students want to enter colleges or universities to become teachers for kids with disabilities.

Explaining reasons of the situation, Dr. Le Thi Minh Ha, Head of the Special Education Faculty of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, said that jobs at special schools can’t get salaries from the state budget because the government doesn’t have wage policy for teachers working out of the special school system.

Budget-crunched schools in districts say that they cannot afford payments for teachers, she said.

Therefore, schools that want teachers for special education classes must pay them from the schools’ budget. Lacking salary policy for special education teachers explains why only a few schools dare to employ these teachers, while most graduates must work for private schools or left.
Since its establishment, the Special Education Faculty has trained seven training courses and 110 graduates have received degrees. Along with regular training courses, the faculty has held five in-service courses since 2006.

However, the country still faces shortage of teachers for educating kids with a disability as there are over 100 educational establishments for disabled children, including 30 special schools for the disabled in HCM City, both state-owned and non-state institutions. These schools are thirsty for teachers.

Nationally, the rate of diagnosed cases of autism spectrum disorders has nearly skyrocketed in recent years. It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 10 children in the country are born with autism.

In such circumstance, this is a big challenge for the society in general and the sector in particular.

Moreover, there are very few experienced teachers meanwhile managers in schools for disabled pupils are not trained to deal with such kids. Furthermore, these schools are short of medical workers who evaluate progress of kids but instructors who don’t have both training and experience in working with autistic children have to do.

The government should tackle the problem by issuing proper policy for teachers to encourage more students to choose the faculty as their major, Ms. Ha added.

Ministry to suspend enrollment of violated universities, colleges

Schools will be suspended from enrolling new students if they don’t organize enrollment for three years in succession, according to the latest draft decision on conditions, standards, processes, procedures of establishment of faculties and enrollment at university and college launched by the Ministry of Education and Training on November 30.

In addition, schools will be also suspended from enrollment if they fall into one of the following infringement cases: cheating in establishment of faculties, breaking regulations on training and management; not meeting infrastructure and training standards in accordance with the ministry’s rules; violating the law on education.

WB steps up support for Vietnam’s higher education reform agenda

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved US$50 million for Vietnam’s higher education development policy program.

WB agreed November 30 additional support for the sustained implementation of the government’s reform agenda for the second operation in a programmatic series of three credits.

Students at a lecture hall. WB decides to give additional support for Vietnam’s higher education development policy program
The credit is provided by the International Development Association (IDA) – the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries.

The program as a whole is designed to support the Government’s implementation of its “Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006-2010” and its “higher education reform agenda”.

This operation aims at to strengthen governance, rationalize financing, improve the quality of teaching and research, improve accountability for performance, and enhance transparency in financial management within the higher education sector.

“The operation supports a number of policy measures that are being put in place by the Government, aimed at modernizing and improving the efficiency of Vietnam’s higher education system,” said Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank’s Country Director for Vietnam. “The reform program will help tertiary institutions in Vietnam begin to meet growing demand for better quality higher education, including through greater private participation in higher education provision.”

The education sector in Vietnam has expanded rapidly, with the fastest growth taking place at the upper levels of education. As a result of these enrollment and demographic trends, gross and net enrolment rates have continued to increase for all education levels. Higher education coverage, though, remains relatively low.

Government supports kindergarteners to pay insurance premiums

The Ministry of Education and Training has just launched a draft decision on supporting social insurance cost for kindergarten teachers and administrators.

A teacher and her children of Nguyen Dinh Chieu Kindergarten in District 1, HCM City. (Photo: Sggp)
Accordingly, kindergarteners have to meet criteria including graduating from teacher schools; working at pre-schools before 1995, stopping working or retiring at the prescribed age in accordance with the State’s regulations; owing social insurance payments from one month to 60 months according to the Law on Social Insurance; not receiving the one-time insurance payment; continuing to buy insurance to receive retirement pension in accordance with the State’s regulations.

According to the new draft, the Government will pay 13 percent of the minimum salary level for kindergarten teachers and administrators from one month to 60 months.

Participants can pay insurance premiums by monthly, once per quarter or every 6 months.

Fulbright scholarship opportunity for Vietnamese students

The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam announces the 2012 Fulbright Vietnamese Student Scholarship Program. The scholarship will cover tuition and fees, monthly stipend, round-trip airfare to the United States and health insurance.

Established in 1946 and funded by the U.S. Congress, the Fulbright Program aims at achieving mutual understanding through academic and cultural exchange. The Fulbright Vietnamese Student Program is a competitive, merit-based scholarship program. Sucessful candidates will pursue a Master’s degree program that begins in the academic year 2012-2013.

Competition is open to all applicants who meet the following minimum criteria: be a Vietnamese citizen; currently residing in Vietnam; have at least one undergraduate degree; have at least one year of work experience after the date of undergraduate diploma by April 1, 2011; have a valid minimum TOEFL iBT score of 79 or IELTS 6.5.

The Program supports study in most fields of social sciences and humanities, including American Studies, Communications, Education, Economics, Business, Law, International Relations, Journalism, Library Science, Public Administration, Social work, Public Health, Public Policy, TESOL, Gender and Women Studies, etc.

To participate in the competition, applicants must submit a complete application package including an application form, three letters of reference, notarized photocopies of diplomas and transcripts (including notarized English translations) and photocopies of TOEFL/IELTS score reports. The application submission is due no later than 5:00 p.m, April 1, 2011. Application should be sent to: Fulbright Vietnamese Student Program, Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy, 7 Lang Ha, Hanoi.

In order to introduce the Program, the Fulbright Office in Vietnam and successful candidates from previous years will organize a series of information sessions. The first session will take place from 9:00 to 11:00, Saturday, December 11, 2010, at the Rose Garden Tower, 170 Ngoc Khanh, Ba Dinh, Hanoi. Details about the Program and the information sessions can be found on the Fulbright website at: .

Source: SGGP, dantrinews