"Evaluating the vocational training for women with disabilities in Vietnam"

In the report of United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child UNCRC - UN, 2006, it is said that “Girls with disabilities are often even more vulnerable to discrimination due to

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

PHAM THI LAN HUONG

EVALUATING THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES IN VIETNAM

MASTER'S THESIS

Hanoi, 2019

Acknowledgment

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

PHAM THI LAN HUONG

EVALUATING THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES IN VIETNAM

MAJOR: PUBLIC POLICY

CODE: PILOT

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR:

Dr NGUYEN THUY ANH

Asst Prof JUN KAWAGUCHI

Hanoi, 2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Foremost, I would like to extend my appreciation and sincere thanks to my supervisor from the Vietnamese side, Dr Nguyen Thuy Anh Her patient and constructive advice had helped me a lot in the completion of this thesis

My great gratitude is due to my supervisor from the Japanese side, Dr Jun Kawaguchi for imparting his valuable guidance and constant supervision during my time

in Japan and in Vietnam

Special thanks to the lecturers and staffs in Master’s Program of Public Policy and researchers for their studies and reports on the topic I have researched, whose information and findings had been a great support for my thesis

My appreciation goes to the directors and staffs of vocational training centers and organizations who willing to participate in the in-depth interviews Their honest and cooperative answers have provided useful information for my analysis

Finally, I would like to express my love and gratitude towards my family and my friends Their encouragement and support have shaped my thesis to this stage

Hanoi 17th June 2019, Sincerely,

Pham Thi Lan Huong

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ii

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF FIGURES v

ABBREVIATIONS vi

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Problem statement 5

1.3 Research purpose 5

1.4 Research questions 6

1.5 Research scope and time 6

1.6 Research significance 6

1.7 Methodology 7

1.8 Structure of research 7

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY 9

2.1 Literature review 9

2.1.1 Studies on Persons with Disabilities 9

2.1.2 Studies on vocational training for women with disabilities 17

2.1.3 Research gap 18

2.2 Theoretical framework 18

2.3 Research flow 20

2.4 In-depth interviews 22

Chapter 3 CURRENT STATUS OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES IN VIETNAM 25 3.1 Definition of disability 25

3.2 Current status of PWDs and WWDs in Vietnam 28

3.3 Legislation documents and legal framework on PWDs in Vietnam 33

Chapter 4 FINDINGS 35

4.1 Interview sites 35

4.2 Interview results 36

4.2.1 From the perspective of owners of vocational training centers for PWDs 36 4.2.2 From the perspective of a female student with disabilities 41

4.2.3 From the perspective of a company who employed PWDs 44

4.2.4 From the perspective of social organization that works with matters related to PWDs 47

4.3 Findings and discussion 48

Chapter 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 52

5.1 Conclusion 52

5.2 Recommendations 53

5.3 Limitations 55

REFERENCES 56

APPENDIX 60

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1 Guidelines and Rules on disability adopted by the UN in the 1990s 13

Table 2.2 Method to evaluate vocational training 19

Table 2.3 Theoretical framework to evaluate vocational training used in the thesis 21

Table 2.4 In-depth interview plan 23

Table 3.1 Share of disability types classified by functional domain and gender (older than 18 years old) 30

Table 4.1 Interview results from the perspective of owners of vocational training centers for PWDs 36

Table 4.2 Interview results from WWDs who are taking vocational training courses 41

Table 4.3 Interview results from the perspective of social organization worker related to PWDs 47

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1 Employment inequality between PWDs and the overall population, by sex 3

Figure 2.1 Research flow 22

Figure 3.1 The Interaction between the components of the ICF 26

Figure 3.2 Percentage of PWDs (18 years old and above) in the labor force 31

Figure 3.3 Reasons why PWDs do not work or look for a job 32

ABBREVIATIONS

CRPD: Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities PWD: Person with disabilities

PWOD: Person without disabilities

SWD: Student with disabilities

UN: United Nations

UNFPA: United Nation Population Fund

WHO: World Health Organization

WWD: Women with disabilities

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research background

As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the share of persons with disabilities had increased from 10% in the 1970s to about 15% in 2011 (cited in Nguyen, T.A, 2018) According to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017, there were 15% of the world population (around 7.8 million people) were suffering from physical or mental disabilities As we can see, the quantity of persons with disabilities (PWD) in the world is quite significant and this figure has been increasing year by year There are several reasons for this emerging trend in the world Firstly, the aging population has not only put the world in the situation of the aging labor force but also raised the number of PWDs because there are several types of disabilities appear as people getting older Secondly, due to the advancement of technology in medical practice, new types of disability have been discovered and recognized worldwide Besides that, the world also changed the way to approach and shaping the definition of disability The conventional concept of disability is usually based on the biological and individual aspect However, in recent years, researchers and society have taken into consideration the social and environmental factors in defining disability In consonance with that, the disability of a person is not only represented by the dysfunction of their own bodies but can be affected by the social, cultural and economic barriers Defining disability this way gives the society a new perspective on how to view the PWDs and help to detect and have more people registered as disabled PWDs not only have many difficulties in daily life due to their body dysfunction, but they also face several discriminations Most of PWDs have a low education background, very few of them attend in higher education Due to their disability, especially learning disability, some PWDs are not able to finish the study program Also, the reason could come from prejudices from family, which consider that it would be a wiser choice to let them study at vocational school and

working rather than studying Therefore, compared to the academic path, going to vocational training and getting a job is more common for most PWDs Regarding the women with disabilities (WWDs), due to discrimination and prejudice based on gender and disability (Nguyen, Mitchell, de Lange, & Fritsch, 2015), they have to face two types

of discriminations: one for they are women, and the other for their disability In the world

population with disabilities, the “disability is more common among women, older people,

children and adults who are poor” (WHO, 2017) In the report of United Nations

Convention on the Right of the Child UNCRC - (UN, 2006), it is said that “Girls with

disabilities are often even more vulnerable to discrimination due to gender discrimination.” The struggles and difficulties for women with disabilities in accessing

education and vocational training is vivid, and yet the situation has remained unimproved

In a smaller scale, among the world’s regions, the South East Asia countries record the second rank and third rank in the prevalence rate of moderate disability (16%) and severe disability (12.9%), respectively (WHO, 2013) However, these high figures are still assumed to be underestimated for this region because most of these countries (except Indonesia and Thailand) applied the medical approach definition for disability rather than the definition of ICF which included the social and cultural aspect The situation that few children with disabilities attend school is quite common in lots of countries in this region Data from Nuri et, al (2012) shows that the difference between school attendance rates of children with and without disabilities varies from 10% in India to 60% in Indonesia In Nepal, there are 68% of PWDs have no education (ILO & IRISH AID, 2013) In a report of International Labor Organization (ILO), it is stated that in Thailand, there are nearly two million people (around 3% of the total population) have a disability and majority of them live in the rural area The report also cited data from Thailand National Statistics Office Survey in 2007 which show that more than 60% of the PWDs over the age of 15 are unemployed Especially, among the employed, only a few of them are hired for professional occupations and a majority (more than 50%) worked in the agriculture and fishing sector (ILO & IRISH AID, 2013) Noticeably, the

percentage of employed men and women are 43% and 28% respectively show that men with disabilities have more chance in getting a job than women with disabilities (ILO & IRISH AID, 2013) ESCAP (2018) also provided a similar comment saying that in many countries in the Asia and Pacific region, men with disabilities are employed more than women with disabilities

Figure 1.1 Employment inequality between PWDs and the overall population, by sex Adapted from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (2018) Building Disability – Inclusive Societies in Asia and the Pacific Assessing Progress of the Incheon Strategy United Nations Publication

The data in Figure 1.1 reflects that the employment inequality of both sexes tends

to be higher in the Asia countries, for instance, Mongolia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China Also, for most countries, the inequality in employment for females with disabilities is equal to or higher than men

There are a few trends we can get from looking at the world and the Asia-Pacific context For starters, the population of PWDs in the world is marginalized and more

common in groups of poor people, children, and women Secondly, the percentage of PWDs is increasing Thirdly, since many developing countries still apply the impairment-based definition of disability - which conflicts with the ICF definition- the data on PWDs in the world is not homogeneous Finally, the PWDs still face many discriminations which create more difficulties for them to access education and employment Especially, women with disabilities still face more discriminations than men with disabilities and have more disadvantage in getting a job

The number of PWDs in Vietnam has been among the highest in the world (Nguyen, T.A, 2018) There are around 6 million people with disabilities represent 7.8% of the total population in Vietnam (MOLISA, 2017) The government has made a lot of effort

in supporting the life of people with disabilities and help them to integrate with society However, in the mindset of citizens and the government, disabled people are referred to someone who needs to be protected, and they cannot contribute to society This mindset

is a kind of discrimination toward disabled people since it underestimates the ability to integrate with society and the contribution of PWDs Keeping being faced with that mindset, disabled people are often isolated from opportunities to get sufficient education and employment They are provided with trivial support in vocational training and rejected by most companies due to their disabilities Meanwhile, firms who employed disabled people or were established by disabled people are often small size business with low profit (handicrafts, massage, and knitting) In that context, the disabled women in Vietnam are facing even more discrimination than the male disabled According to the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2008 by GSO, the proportion of female and male disabled are 16.58% and 13.69% respectively The number of disabled women is larger than men because they have higher longevity WWDS are now facing double discrimination, one is discrimination toward disabled people, and the other is discrimination to women Researches of Rydstrom (2010) and UNFPA (2009) showing evidence of girls with disabilities have more disadvantages than boy within the education

setting in Vietnam, and only a few interventions were made to improve the situation (cited in Nguyen & Mitchell, 2014) WWDs are often viewed as abnormal and inferior

to persons without disabilities, and they are considered as the shame of family, a burden for the future economy and hindering the industrialization process of the countries (Nguyen & Mitchell, 2014) Therefore, disabled women in Vietnam have even fewer opportunities to get employed ILO (2008) also stated that WWDs have more difficulties

in finding job and access vocational training than disabled men while vocational training

is necessary for disabled people to enhance their social integration Therefore, it is essential to have a research to evaluate the vocational training and education system in Vietnam for PWDs and the especially for the women with disabilities and from then can propose suitable solutions to improve the vocational training for the WWDs and help them to integrate with society effectively

1.2 Problem statement

Among the total population of PWDs in Vietnam, the percentage of WWDs is higher than men In addition, they are facing more discriminations and prejudices than, which make them have more disadvantages in finding a job than normal people and men with disabilities Considering the fact that a majority of PWDs have vocational training rather than attending school, improving the quality of vocational training might be good for the integration of people with disability Especially for the WWDs, who now have more difficulties in accessing vocational training and getting employment than men with disabilities, it is necessary to evaluate vocational training in Vietnam to give a clear view on the current situation and empowering the voice and perspective of WWDs more to society

1.3 Research purpose

The research aims at giving an overview and evaluation of the current status of the vocational training in Vietnam for persons with disabilities and especially for women

with disabilities From the analysis, the paper will then propose suitable policy implications to improve the vocational training for the WWDs and contribute to enhancing the ability to integrate with the society of women with disabilities

1.4 Research questions

The main research question is “How is the current situation of vocational training

in Vietnam for women with disabilities?” To clarify this matter, the paper focuses on

answering the following sub-questions:

▪ How the support from the government in vocational training for PWDs and especially WWDs?

▪ Do WWDs have any challenges in accessing vocational training?

▪ Are there any difficulties and discriminations that WWD have to face in vocational training?

1.5 Research scope and time

Regarding the time scale, the author collected the data from 2008 to 2018 In order

to analyze the situation of vocational training, the research using the secondary data from relevance studies, Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS) and National Survey on People with Disability of General Statistics Office of Vietnam in

2008 and 2016 The primary data is obtained from in-depth interviews

The in-depth interview sites focus on Hanoi All three interviewed vocational training centers and the company are located in Hanoi

1.6 Research significance

Regarding academic significance, the research hopes to contribute as a data source

on vocational training for persons with disabilities and especially for women with disabilities with updated data for further studies Conducting in-depth interviews with

different stakeholders would give diverse viewpoints on the situation of vocational training for WWDs in Vietnam

For social significance, the implications are proposed with the hope to improve the situation of vocational training for WWDs in Vietnam Finally, by analyzing vocational training service they are provided, the research brings a clear view of the challenges and the difficulties that women with disabilities are now facing in job training and employment Moreover, this could contribute to empower the voice of women with disabilities in society and increase their opportunities to integrate more and better with the community

1.7 Methodology

This research will use the qualitative method The qualitative method contains desk research on secondary data relating to the international experience and national situation on vocational training for WWDs and in-depth interviews The interview target aims at women with disabilities who are older than 15 years old, vocational training teachers, leaders of organization/institutions of PWDs in Hanoi Besides, the research also conducts interviews with the officers of organizations for PWDs

1.8 Structure of research

The thesis will contain five chapters with the contents as follow:

Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter will illustrate the research background and

clarify the research problem The research questions, research methodology, and significance of the research are also presented in this part

Chapter 2: Literature review and methodology The content of this chapter

focuses on reviewing available literature history of research on PWDs in the world and Vietnam, especially legislation documents and legal frameworks for PWDs and also studies that have been done on assessing vocational training for PWDs and women with

disabilities in Vietnam The second part will clarify the theoretical framework and methodology applied in the research

Chapter 3: Current status of women with disabilities and vocational training for women with disabilities in Vietnam Chapter 3 will clarify the definition of

disability according to the international standard and Vietnam’s law Then, the overall picture of statistical data relating to WWDs and vocational training for PWDs in Vietnam is presented and analyzed

Chapter 4: Findings This chapter shows the findings resulting from in-depth

interviews These finding will then be analyzed and discussed in this part

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations This is the final chapter of this

research which summaries all the main findings and discussion from the analysis in the above chapters Then, the author will provide suitable recommendations to improve the vocational training situation for WWDs in Vietnam

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY

2.1 Literature review

2.1.1 Studies on Persons with Disabilities

International documents and studies on Persons with Disabilities

The matter of disability has received the attention of society and the academic community from quite a long time World Health Organization stated in their 2011 report that disability can be classified as human rights issues due to these following reasons Firstly, PWDs experience several inequalities in accessing public services such as health care, employment, education or politic participation due to their disabilities Secondly, the dignity of PWDs tends to be violated as they could be victims of violence, abuse in school and workplace, prejudice or disrespect because of their disabilities Moreover, in the worst case, their autonomy is denied, where they are forced to join in the organizations and institution that go against their will or when they are considered as incompetent due to their disabilities

Several international documents have stressed that disabilities fall into the category

of human rights issues, namely the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled

People in 1982, the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities in 1993 In many places in the world, people have shown their advocation

and positive attitude in ensuring human rights for people with disabilities There are 39 countries in the world were recorded that have adopted law related to discrimination of people with disabilities during the 1990s period (Quinn & Degener, 2002)

Dated back more than two decades ago, lots of international documents relating to the human rights issues and disability had been released by the United Nations These documents are rather resolutions, conventions and declarations which based solely on the mutual agreements between countries Since the regulations are not strictly

compulsory but rather depend on the voluntary of each country, in the studies of Quinn and Degener in 2002, these documents were only referred as “soft” law (p.29) A number

of resolutions dealing with rehabilitation were adopted by two agencies, the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly of United Nations since the mid of the twentieth century Both agents had approved major and significant resolutions The Economic and Social Council ratified a resolution in 1950 regarding the social rehabilitation problem of the physically disabled people Study of Quinn and Degener (2002) implies that the Economic and Social Council is particularly more active than the General Assembly However, the two resolutions in the 70s years adopted by the General Assembly worth special attention since they represent the first signals of the transition

to the approach of disability issues which based more on the human rights aspect The first resolution was entitled “Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons” Focusing on the group of Mentally Retarded Persons, the resolution states that they appreciate equivalent human rights as other groups of citizens (Article 1) However, there are rights that are especially important to such individuals, which including education, training, and rehabilitation The other resolution was adopted four years later

in 1975, namely “Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons” This resolution also claims that PWDs have similar civil and political rights as persons without disabilities (paragraph 4) Paragraph 8 states that the special needs of disabled should be taken into consideration in all stages of the economic and social planning process Especially, regarding the rights to access employment, paragraph 7 of the declaration said that PWDs

“have the right, according to their capabilities, to secure and retain employment or to

engage in a useful, productive and remunerative occupation and join trade unions”

(p.88) According to this, persons with disabilities have the right and should be encouraged to participate in society through jobs and occupations that suitable for their ability Another noticing message from paragraph 12 refers to the right of organization

of PWDs to be “usefully consulted in all matters regarding the rights of disabled persons” (p.89)

The General Assembly of United Nations announced 1981 as the International Year

of Disabled People (IYDP) with the motto “Full participation and equality” The following decade from 1983 to 1992 was referred to as the International Decade of Disabled Person (Quinn & Degener, 2002) This period had witnessed a memorable shift

to the rights-based approach In consonance with that, the world community has shown its commitment to ensuring the human rights for PWDs In 1982, following the International Year of Disabled Persons, the General Assembly adopted “World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons” (WPA) This program provides the policy framework with “effective measures” aims at: i) prevention of disability, ii) rehabilitation and iii) equalization of opportunities for PWDs The first two objectives are familiar as it had appeared in the traditional “caring” model The existence of the third aim – equalization of opportunities – in the resolution represents the slow but certain transition toward the new model that promotes a rights-based approach This becomes the philosophy that guides the achievement of full participation of PWDs in all aspects of the social and economic field The implementation of WPA needs periodic monitoring and evaluation at every level include national, regional and international Therefore, every five years, the implementation of WPA was reviewed The first review

in Stockholm raised the need for a convention on human rights of PWDs The second review in 1992 reported that participation of PWDs in the decision-making process still not significant Majority of states had not adopted a comprehensive national program on rights for PWDs In countries that have programs for PWDs, these programs tend to be separated from the overall social-economic plan of the country Quinn and Degener (2002) reported in their study that though several countries had made efforts in equalizing opportunities for PWDs, it is still early to say those efforts would succeed or not The report in five years later (1997) summarized relevant development relating to the implementation of WPA during the 1990s period In the mid of 1990s, A Long-Term Strategy to Implement the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons to the Year 2000 and Beyond was adopted The United Nations had established an

important fund entitled Voluntary Fund on Disability by the resolution 32/133 of General Assembly The member countries of the United Nations would donate to the fund on a voluntary basis and the money is used for support: i) promoting better understanding of disability issues and knowledge and experience exchange; ii) building capacities for nations and institutions, for policies and programs to integrate PWDs and for the national legislation on disability; iii) improving data collection, applied research and evaluation

of disability in the world scale and national scale; iv) facilitating pilot effort and v) promoting spreading of qualified disability technologies

Two influential studies of the United Nations carried out by Daes (1986) and Despouy (1003) also reflected the trend of approaching disability issues based on rights Daes (1986) along with the resolution of UN in 1991 set the new start to the perception of the role of law on mental disorder people Despouy (1993) showed evidence on a number of cases where PWDs have their human rights abused because of their disabilities Another point that worth noticing in Despouy’s study is that the disabled community did not benefit much from the convention on disability as other vulnerable group did from their related convention The vulnerable groups here according to Despouy includes refugees, women, migrant workers, etc He reported that there is no specific international agent to monitor the respect for human rights issues of PWDs and provide the specific protection

to the disabled people

Beside the WPA, the effort of the United Nations in promoting the human rights for PWDs also showed in the publications related to guidelines and rules on disability issues

in the 1990s (Table 2.1)

Table 2.1 Guidelines and Rules on disability adopted by the UN in the 1990s

Guidelines for the Establishment and Development of National

Coordinating Committees on Disability or Similar Bodies

1990

Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the

Improvement of Mental Health Care

1991

Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with

Disabilities

1993

Note: Adapted from Quinn, G., & Degener, T (2002) Human Rights and Disability

The current use and future potential of United Nations human rights instruments in the context of disability 1–307

It is stated in the Standard Rules that PWDs “may exercise the same rights and obligations as others” (paragraph 15) The Standard Rules play a vital role in guiding the action of the United Nations on ensuring the equalization of opportunities for PWDs However, it still weak in legal effect since there is no treaty was formed to in charge of implementing the rules

Many other important documents from international conferences also relate indirectly

to the field of disability The World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which also stated that PWDs should have the same human rights enjoyed by others (paragraph 63) The Copenhagen Declaration

on Social Development and the Programme of Action adopted in the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 contained many general provisions that can directly apply to the disability field Especially, according to the Programme of Action, the government by promoting and implementing the Standard Rules on the Equalization

of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities could help to respond to the special needs

of PWDs

We can see that the United Nations has been the most active international organization

in ensuring human rights for PWDs Every two years the United Nations Commission

on Human Rights will promulgate a resolution on disability Moreover, several important meetings of experts on disability throughout the world had been arranged by the United Nations Secretary

In 2006, The Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was approved at the United Nations Headquarters and entered into force on May 3rd, 2008 The Convention promotes changing the attitudes and approaches to PWDs from viewing them as charity, medical treatment and social protection “objects” to “subjects” that deserve equal respect and human rights This is the first comprehensive treaty on human rights in the 21st century It shows a broad classification of PWDs and affirms that regardless of the types of disabilities, they must have all human rights and fundamental freedoms The CRPD clarifies the international laws regarding disability and is a useful document even for states that do not ratify it For countries that ratify the CRPD, the government must consult with PWDs and the organization of PWDs in the process of developing law, policies, and programs to implement the CRPD

WHO (2011), a report on disability, aims at providing a comprehensive description

of disability and the importance of this field The report analyzed the relationship between disability and human rights, disability and development Through the data of PWDs worldwide and their situation in various aspects such as health care, rehabilitation, support and assistant services, education and employment, the report draw an overview picture of the situation of PWDs in the global scale and propose recommendations at national and international level

In the regional scale, the Asia-Pacific areas are one of the places with the highest prevalence rates of PWDs in the world Therefore, there are a lot of research, reports, and international document specified in disability issues in this region In 2012, the governments of the ESCAP members got together in Incheon, Korea and charted the

Ministerial Declaration on the Asia and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific in the period 2013-2022 and the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific The strategy has

strengthened efforts of countries in implementing human rights for PWDs in the regions and it is presented as the first set of “regionally agreed disability-inclusive development goals” (ESCAP, 2015, p.iii) The study of ESCAP (2018) analyzed the barriers to employment of PWDs in the region and suggested recommendations to improve their employment perspective The author provided an overview of disability legislation in the Asia and Pacific region as well as specific information of some countries

SIDA (2014) gives a brief overview of disability rights in ASEAN countries, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam Accordingly, the ASEAN countries have made efforts in implementing a great amount of legislation and policy to advance the rights of PWDs However, there are significant gaps in the legal system and policies The study acknowledges the lack of reliable, up-to-date source of statistics on disability across the region due to the difference in the definition of disability

Studies on Persons with disabilities in Vietnam

Researchers in Vietnam tend to focus on stigma and discriminations toward PWDs Regarding the topic of stigma toward PWDs, in 2013, ISDA attempted to measure the perceived stigma for both people with and without disabilities This method is applied in ISEE (2017) The latter research uses a different framework to assess stigma and focus only on PWDs The study of ISEE focuses on investigating the stigma that PWDs feel

and see in various fields such as education and employment opportunity, health care and mental health The author collected data from 516 respondents who are PWDs in three regions in Vietnam Aside questionnaires survey, ISEE also conducted in-depth interviews and group discussion sessions The research offers an assessment of the situation of stigma toward PWDs in Vietnam from the viewpoint of PWDs The stigma for PWDs in employment also analyzed in the paper, though they did not go further into the vocational training situation of PWDs

Study of Nguyen, T.A (2018) reviews the legal framework and policies of Vietnam

in government regarding PWDs The author investigated the commitments of the country

to international policies and standards The main target of this research is students with disabilities (SWDs), thus the author focuses on the legislation towards SWDs in particular and highlights the problems and challenges in creating a better inclusive learning environment for PWDs at the higher education level in Vietnam

Nguyen and Mitchell (2014) present an intersectionality perspective on the inclusion

of girls with disabilities in education in Vietnam The author discussed the change in inclusive education for girls with disabilities in Vietnam, especially the treatment they get in social and education policy Nguyen and Mitchell, through analysis of relevant studies, stated that boys with disabilities had more privilege in accessing education than girls with disabilities Nguyen et al (2015) continued this research topic which focuses

on addressing a theoretical and methodological approach in support of inclusive education for girls with disabilities in Vietnam Through the project Monitoring Educational Rights for Girls with Disabilities in Vietnamese schools, the authors studied and analyzed the experiences of 21 girls with disabilities participated in the project The method applied to monitor the rights of the respondents called participatory visual methodology which analyzed the experience and thought of the respondents through pictures and photos

In 2018, the General Statistic Office of Vietnam (GSO) has conducted a national survey on PWDs, offers an overall picture of PWDs in Vietnam with updated data until the year 2016 An interesting point is that in this study, GSO had applied the ICF definition of disability to recalculate the number of PWDs in Vietnam according to the international standard The survey covers a variety of field related to PWDs such as education, poverty, living condition, social protection, employment, health and attitudes, and social participation This is a nationwide survey with sample size of 35,442 households The situation of employment for PWDs has been investigated in this paper, however, the authors do not go further into the job training issues for PWDs

2.1.2 Studies on vocational training for women with disabilities

MOLISA has published two reports in 2012 related to vocational training in Vietnam, one focuses on the statistic of the vocational training system in general (MOLISA, 2012a) and the other focuses on the status of financial support for vocational training system in Vietnam (MOLISA, 2012b) These two reports provide detail information on the number and the current situation of vocational training in Vietnam However, the data on vocational training for disabled people is still limited

NIVT – GIZ (2016) approaches the vocational training in the orientation toward sustainable development The study promotes greening vocational training system in Vietnam in order to move forward the green economy and sustainable development The author analyzed and suggested a solution to attain a green vocational training system According to the study, students in vocational school should be taught green skill and knowledge related to the environment, the list of the green job also provided and analyzed in this paper Study of Hang, N T (2013) analyzes the vocational training system in Vietnam through the approach from social demand for vocational training ILO report in 2008 provides a view on the vocational training for disabled people and also mention the disabled women However, the study mainly focused on providing the

statistical number, they had an approach from the disabled people point of view Moreover, the research was conducted in 2008 Another study of ILO (n.d.) also analyzes the situation of disabled people and their difficulties in finding a job

2.1.3 Research gap

These studies mentioned above are abundant sources of data on the number and types

of disability They mainly focus on PWDs in general The difficulties of PWDs in accessing vocational opportunities are mentioned but not in detail There have been many papers analyzing the vocational training in Vietnam, but they rarely mentioned the vocational training for PWDs or not in detail

In short, we can see the research gap in research related to vocational training for WWDs The number of researches on this topic is very limited and the research that has done in vocational training for WWDs and is quite old and need to update the data

2.2 Theoretical framework

Literature review on relevant studies points out that there are two approaches to assess vocational training, one is evaluating based on Internal Inputs and the other is based on External Output Nuri et al (2012) presented an evaluation of the effectiveness of a vocational program in Bangladesh on 261 participators who are PWDs The effect of job training was evaluated based on the outputs such as the employment rate of respondents through the questions relating the time to find a job after the course or the length of the training course Besides that other factors such as barriers to employment, the effect of employment on their life (how their life changes or improved after they are employed) The study used the ICF guidelines as a conceptual framework to assess how the life of respondents had improved after they got a job in three aspects (economic, social and psychological aspect) This approach can evaluate the outcome and the results of the vocational training process However, it focuses only on the results after the vocational

training course and does not concern the factors during the training process such as the quality of textbooks, the qualification of teachers and the teaching program

Based solely on assessing the Internal Inputs in of the vocational training, Woessmann (2008) and Gambin (2009) evaluated the relevance of curricula, connection with the labor market, quality of training program and qualification framework

To make up for the weakness of each approach, there is research which combines both approaches to give a more comprehensive evaluation of vocational training Fretwell (2003) has offered a framework to evaluate the vocational training which includes both the factors of Internal Inputs and External Outputs The criteria for evaluating in each research is summarized in Table 2.2

Table 2.2 Method to evaluate vocational training

(Nuri et al.,

2012)

Evaluate the effectiveness of vocational training based only

on the External Output

The employment rate (How long it takes to find a job after vocational training, duration of employment) Wage rate

ICF guideline

(2001)

Evaluate the impact of getting

a job on the people with

disabilities: economic, social and psychological aspect

Economic aspect Social aspect Psychological aspect Woessmann,

on the Internal Input

Ensure curricula relevance Maintain close labor market contact Ensure high-quality training

Establish qualification framework

Limit the risk of creating a dead-end vocational schooling track

External Output: economic output

(employment, wage…), social output (equity, social cohesion, poverty reduction…)

Source: Combined by the author from the literature review

2.3 Research flow

This thesis uses qualitative method to evaluate the vocational training for women with disabilities in Vietnam Firstly, the qualitative method is used in reviewing relevant researches and international documents on disability issues From the literature review,

we can overview the background of relevant studies to this topic and legislative framework and policies relating to PWDs in the world and Vietnam

Based on the theoretical framework, the author will adopt both approaches which evaluate both Internal Input and External Output of vocational training

Table 2.3 Theoretical framework to evaluate vocational training used in the thesis Before the

Learning ability

Economic aspect Social aspect Psychological aspect

Source: Combined by the author from the literature review

According to Table 2.3, the research will evaluate vocational training based on the factors during the training process (internal inputs) and the results after the training (external outputs) Moreover, for the period before a student entering a training course and for those have never received vocational training, the research will investigate whether they have any challenges in accessing vocational training services

The qualitative method used in the research contains desk research and in-depth interviews As illustrated in Figure 2.1, through reviewing and analyzing secondary data from existing studies and international reports and resolution, the research aims at providing an overall picture of statistical data of WWDs and vocational training for them Also, the legislative framework on disability is reviewed and summarized to examine whether the Vietnamese government makes efforts in helping PWDs and WWDs in accessing the vocational training and support them during the training process The primary data in the research is collected through in-depth interviews with several stakeholders involved in the vocational training for PWDs

Figure 2.1 Research flow Note: Combined by the author

2.4 In-depth interviews

The in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate the current status of vocational training for women with disabilities and the challenges and difficulties that the involved stakeholders were facing The main target of interview is WWDs, who are older than 15 years old Besides the students – the WWDs, the author also approaches the owners of the centers that provide vocational training for PWDs, the company that employs PWDs and the social organization that works with issues related to PWDs The detail of the interview plan is illustrated in Table 2.4

Table 2.4 In-depth interview plan

External output: employment rate, matching, the meaning of vocational training for WWDs (economic, social, psychological)

job-The discrimination toward WWDs in vocational training and employment

Female students who are PWDs: 11

persons

a The support from the government

b The challenges in accessing vocational training

c The challenges during the vocational training process

matters in the company

The statistical data of employees with disabilities in the company, especially female employees, types of positions that recruit PWDs

The support/incentives from the government

The challenges/difficulties of the company in employing PWDs

The recruitment process (collaboration with a vocational training center for PWDs, ability testing)

The opinion of the company on the working ability of WWDs, the discrimination toward WWDs in accessing vocational training and employment

The challenges/difficulties that the WWDs are facing in accessing vocational training and employment

The meaning of vocational training to WWDs

Source: Combined by the author

Chapter 3 CURRENT STATUS OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES IN

VIETNAM 3.1 Definition of disability

The international definition

The conventional definition of disability is rather based on the medical approach or biological approach According to this way of understanding, disability tends to be perpetuated as a deficiency However, there has been a transition in how to define disability, as it shifts from the perspective which solely based on biological viewpoint to the “social model” approach, where they include the other factors into understanding disability This social model has reflected by the definition provided in Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006, which said:

“Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”

(p.4)

The difference between the new concept and the old one is that the traditional definition recognized the PWD as someone with the deficiency in their body, while the modern approach perceived a person as disabled by the social, cultural and environmental barriers As acknowledged in the Preamble to the Convention on the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities, disability is “an evolving concept” (p.1, paragraph e), it “results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and

environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an

equal basis with others” (p.1, paragraph e) Considering disability as interaction

indicates that disability is not an attribute of a person

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) promotes the “bio-psycho-social model” which compromise between two approaches but put more emphasis on the environmental factors The ICF divide the problem of human function into three interconnected groups: impairments, activity limitation and participation restrictions Impairments involve with the problems in the function of the body or the modification of body structure such as paralyze and blindness Activity limitations are referred to as the difficulties in performing activities such as walking and eating For participation restrictions, they are problems that the subjects are facing which involve in several areas of life – a concrete example would be the discrimination and prejudices in education and employment According to the framework of ICF, disability

is the difficulty in one or all these functioning areas This concept is rather neutral as it does not distinguish clearly the types or causes of disability ICF has provided a framework which takes into consideration both medical model and the social model, which emphasized the effects of environmental factors on the disability

Figure 3.1 The Interaction between the components of the ICF Adapted from World Health Organization (2011) World report on disability 2011

The ICF was approved by the World Health Assembly in 2001 for application This framework acknowledges the roles of environmental factors in the formation of

disability, as well as the association of health condition According to WHO (n.d.), the ICF is a valuable framework for monitoring aspects of the UN Convention of the Rights

of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006) and the national and international policy

formulation As illustrated in Figure 3.1, there are four components that interrelate with

each other, which are body functions and structures; activities; participation and the environment factors The environmental factors in the framework contain products and technology; the natural and built environment; support and relationship; attitudes; and services, systems, and policies The environmental factors can either facilitate or hinder the persons’ activities Besides the environmental factors, the ICF framework also recognizes the personal factors such as motivation and self-esteem, which can affect the participation of a person in society

The definition of disability in Vietnam

As indicated in the Law on Persons with Disabilities, No 51/2010/QH12, which was passed by the National Assembly on 17th Jun 2010, PWDs are “those who have

impairment of one or more parts of their body, which are shown in different forms of disability, and may cause difficulties in work, daily life and study” (p.1, Article 2) This

definition of disability is quite different from the world as it based solely on the medical aspects of the disability, and rarely mentions whether the environmental factors may cause disability or not

There are few related terms such as impairment, disability, and handicap, which Vietnam has adopted the definition developed by the World Health Organization According to WHO:

i) Impairment (organ level) refers to the loss or abnormality of body structure or of

a physical or psychological function The impairment can be resulted from disease or accident or of congenital or environmental agents

ii) Disability (individual level) is reduction or absence of the ability to perform activity resulting from an impairment, or it can relate to the restriction or absence of a function (moving, hearing, or communicating);

iii) Handicap (social level) is the disadvantages a person experiences due to his/her disability The interaction between an individual with impairment or disability and the social, cultural barriers can cause the difficulties that limit the person to participate in the mainstream community life

The Law of Persons with Disability also clarified the six main groups of disability as mobility disability; hearing and speaking disability; visual/seeing disability; intellectual disability and other disabilities/impairments The Law also classified the three levels of severity of disability: severe, moderate and minor disability

a Persons with severe disabilities are those who are unable to support themselves

in their daily activities

b Persons with moderate disabilities are those who are unable to support themselves

in some of their daily activities

c Persons with minor disabilities are those who do not fall under type 1 or 2

In conclusion, we can see that in Vietnam, the government still applies the conventional definition of disability, which solely based on the medical aspects that view disability as an attribute of a person and rarely mention the barrier from social and the environment that could be the cause for disability

3.2 Current status of PWDs and WWDs in Vietnam

Vietnam is located in South East Asia, one of the regions with the highest percentage

of persons with disabilities in the world According to WHO (2013), the South East Asia countries have a relatively high rank in the prevalence rate of moderate disability and severe disability at 16% (the second highest) and 12.9% (third highest) These figures show that the number of persons with disability in this region can be higher Research

has acknowledged that this record was underestimated, compared to the actual count Vietnam is considered as one of the countries with the highest record of persons with disabilities (Nguyen, T.A, 2018) Due to the inhomogeneous of the definition of disability between Vietnam and the international standard, the statistical data of PWDs

in Vietnam is still lacking and not updated According to the data of MOLISA (2017), there are 6.1% of the Vietnam total population (nearly 8 million people) are PWDs, of which, there are 4 million are women with disabilities In Vietnam, the number of females with disabilities are higher than men with disabilities The Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey in 2008 also revealed the percentage of men with disabilities and WWDs in the total population of Vietnam is 13.69% and 16.58% respectively The Census 2009 adds more evidence of the higher proportion of female in total PWDs population In the census, males account for 46.2% and women do for 53.8% Regarding the age groups, there are 41.8% PWDs are in the working age (from 16 to 59 years old) (UNESCAP, 2015), indicated that they are abundant sources for the labor force in Vietnam Among different types of disabilities, physical disability is the most common, accounting for 29.4%, the other types namely visual, hearing, mental, intellectual and multiple disability account for 13.8%, 9.3%, 16.8%, 13.6, and 17% respectively (UNESCAP, 2015)