New Year's joy

In the last days of the Year of Canh Ty 2020, when everyone was happy to prepare for the New Year, Ms. Long Thi Thuong's family in Tung Si village, Quoc Toan commune, Quang Hoa district, Cao Bang province also received their own joy, when her daughter's journey to apply for scholarships for students with disabilities had good results.

Ms. Long Thi Thuong (35 years old) is an ethnic Tay, her family belongs to poor households in Quoc Toan Commune. Her daughter, Luong Hanh Giang, born in 2016, was diagnosed with Thalassemia disease. Giang has been granted a certification of disability, with a severe disability and is entitled to a monthly social allowance of VND 540,000. The amount of money is not large, but it also helps Ms. Thuong's family to be somewhat in the fight against Giang's evil disease.

In October 2020, Ms. Thuong participated in the propaganda, dissemination and advice on preferential subsidy, social benefits, scholarship policies for students with disabilities and participated in inclusive learning for parents of children with disabilities in cao Bang province project. This is an activity in the project "My right to study" – (VN04-035) developed by ACDC in collaboration with ChildFund Project Office in Cao Bang and Quang Hoa District Education & Training Department. By participating in these activities, Ms. Thuong has learned the state's regulations and policies for persons with disabilities and children with disabilities who are attending school, especially the scholarship policy, supporting the cost of purchasing school supplies for children with disabilities that she was not previously known about. As a result, Ms. Thuong has learned about the forms of disability, the level of disability and the levels of social protection benefits corresponding to the form and level of disability.

Photo 2: Hanh Giang smiles when receiving gifts at home, Tung Si village, Quoc Toan commune, Quang Hoa district, Cao Bang province, April 16, 2021 - Photo taken by Phan Ngoc Viet, ACDC officer

After the dissemination and policy consultation, Ms. Thuong actively researched more information and called the Law Department of ACDC [1] for advice on the policy of scholarships to support learning for children with disabilities. ACDC's consultants have studied, informed and advised Ms. Thuong on the principle of receiving preferential subsidy policies in general, conditions for scholarships for academic support as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 7 of the Joint Circular No. 42/2013/TTLT-BGDDT-BLDTBXH-BTC[2] (persons with disabilities belonging to poor households,  near-poor households attending educational institutions are entitled to scholarships each month equal to 80% of the base salary, equivalent to VND 1,192,000/month). Realizing that her daughter is eligible for a scholarship for academic support, she asked ACDC for further advice on the application process to receive this support from the State. Thanks to specific advice and guidance on the application process from ACDC staff, Ms. Thuong met and talked with the head teacher and the school about this policy to continue to be supported. Thereby, the School Council has instructed the family to complete the necessary documents and procedures as prescribed.

By January 2021, the application for a scholarship for Ms. Giang was approved as the biggest New Year's gift to Ms. Thuong's family, each semester Giang received a scholarship worth VND 5,268,000. During the process of completing the scholarship application process, in addition to Ms. Thuong's initiative and timely counseling support from ACDC, her family always received dedicated support from the Nazi authorities, the School Council of Quoc Toan Kindergarten (where Ms. Giang attended). Ms. Thuong shared: "I should have been entitled to a scholarship from 2019, but because the family did not know about these policies. Fortunately, Tra Linh district merged into Quang Hoa, she was trained so she learned the policy, learned about ACDC's free advice, so she asked for more information. I'm very appreciated your help."

In the first year, Giang entered the first grade, Ms. Thuong had many concerns, wondering how to get along with her friends. Ms. Thuong wishes to "participate in the training classes of the project, to break more things" and she hopes that teachers can "change the educational mindset" – regardless of children with disabilities and have the skills and methods to create the right learning environment, inclusive for students with disabilities.

Ensuring children with disabilities are entitled to preferential benefits, social benefits and scholarship policies for students with disabilities is an interdisciplinary work, requiring the coordination of many stakeholders. In this case, the family plays an important role. Therefore, the work to raise awareness about disability issues, legal policies related to persons with disabilities and on inclusive education should be regularly implemented for families of children with disabilities and the community at large.

Hopefully, not only Ms. Thuong's family, But also other children with disabilities will also have access to the State's support policies; contribute to supporting children with disabilities to be included into the community better through improving the lives of families of children with disabilities as well as ensuring the rights of children with disabilities.

Photo 3: Ms. Thuong and Giang in the backyard of their home in Tung Si village, Quoc Toan Commune, Quang Hoa district, Cao Bang province, April 16, 2021 - Photo taken by Phan Ngoc Viet, ACDC officer

[1]  One of the functions of ACDC's Law Department is providing free counseling for persons with disabilities and families of persons with disabilities through channels such as: Email: tuvan@acdc.org.vn, Online consultation on Facebook: Viện ACDC and website: http://acdc.vn or tuvanmienphi.vn.

[2]  Joint Circular No. 42/2013/TTLT-BGDDT-BLDTBXH-BTC dated December 31, 2013 of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, stipulating education policies for persons with disabilities.