Conditions have been created in Ho Chi Minh City for more and more children with disabilities to go to school, the Department of Education and Training has said.

The number of normal schools admitting children with disabilities rose by 42

In a report tabled at a conference on Wednesday, it said last year 5,476 disabled students attended school, 418 more than the previous year.

The number of normal schools admitting children with disabilities rose by 42.

The city spent VND7 billion (US$366,500) to build more classrooms at the Binh Minh Special School in Tan Phu District to take in more children.

The parents of the disabled children were regularly provided information about the kids\' health and guided in helping them learn at home.

At special schools, students could take part in other activities like dancing, yoga and swimming, and were taken on trips to amusement parks like Suoi Tien and Dam Sen.

They were also taught soft skills to help integrate into society and provided career counselling.

At Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special Secondary School in District 10 for children with impaired vision, teachers themselves created teaching aids appropriate for their students.

Vocational skills

Besides, all students were taught basic computer skills and the school worked with the Medical University to teach them massage and other vocational schools.

It co-operated with hospitals to check students\' eyesight to make books suitable for each.

Many schools, including the Can Thanh Special School in Can Gio District, waive fees and, in fact, financially assist poor disabled students.

Delegates also listed the difficulties faced by the city in providing education for disabled students.

Nguyen Thi Van Anh, deputy head of the department\'s Standing Board for Education of People With Disabilities, said there were not enough books and other teaching aids at special schools.

The number of teachers with knowledge of their students\' disabilities remained low, leading to difficulties in teaching them.

Seven districts in the city – 4, 7, 9, Binh Tan, Thu Duc, Nha Be, and Hoc Mon – did not have public special schools, she said.

Binh Tan and Thu Duc have, however, recently earmarked land for building special schools, she said.

Besides, most special schools in the city were too small to meet demand while the Government provided them too little money to buy adequate teaching aids.