In recent years, the Da Nang authorities have paid a special heed to offering free-of-charge vocational training for the disabled. The intention is to facilitate them to access job opportunities at local businesses, earn their living and confidently re-integrate into the community with their better lives and brighter future.

A sewing training courses in progress at the Career Orientation Centre under the city’s Red Cross Association

It is commonly thought that disabled people are not physically able to take care of themselves, but actually, they can work well and make money like able-bodied ones.

Mr Nguyen Hoang Long, Chairman of the municipal Association for Supporting Orphans and the Disabled, said the fact that vocational training brings great benefits to the handicapped because it helps them get suitable jobs, making their living, thereby affirming their position as useful citizens in society.

Five years ago, Ms Nguyen Thi Tuyet from in Binh Dinh Province took her 23-year-old hearing-impaired daughter Nguyen Thi Hong Luyen to Da Nang with a hope of her better life.

Having completed her studies at the city-based Tuong Lai (Future) School for the disabled, Luyen attended the sewing training course operated at the Career Orientation and Vocational Training Centre under the municipal Association for Supporting Orphans and the Disabled.

After that, the handicapped woman applied for a job at the Thanh Khe District-located Tam Anh Minh Co Ltd. Mrs Tuyet showed her great delight at her daughter’s significant improvements.

“From a disabled person who seems to be unable to do anything, now my daughter can work and earn money. Although her monthly salary is not high, it strongly demonstrates the fact that her disability can not prevent her from working and generate income like a normal person”, Tuyet said in tears of joys.

According to Ms Trinh Thi Kim Ngan, the Deputy Director of the Tam Anh Minh company, a total of 7 disabled employees are currently working there with their stable monthly salary ranging from 1 to 2.5 million VND each.

In similar vein, the city-based An Dien company also now employs 6 disabled persons, many of whom are now paid an average monthly salary of 6 million VND each.

According to the municipal Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the city is now home to 182,000 people with disablities, of whom 12,634 suffer severe disabilities. 

The Department has cooperated with other local units and educational establishments to offer free vocational training courses for the disabled.

In detail, training courses on refrigeration, industrial electricity, civil and industrial sewing, raising poultry, growing mushrooms and ornamental plants have been launched at the city’s Vocational Training Centre, whilst courses on organic agriculture and food processing at the Junior College of Food Industry; classes on reception skills, room services, welding, bartending, and mechanical engineering at the Vocational Junior College; network management and graphic design at the Information and Communications Technology Centre; ornamental flowers and mushroom growing techniques offered by Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and courses on skills needed to become boat captains and chief engineers launched by the municipal Farmers’ Association.  Last year, free-of-charge full-time and part-time vocational training was offered to 21 disabled people.

The Career Orientation Centre under the city’s Red Cross Association, each year, offers vocational training courses to between 40 and 50 disabled people aged 14 and above.

Besides, the Center has joined forces with businesses operating in the city to offer employment opportunities to those with disabilities.

It is suggested that, in the current context of burgeoning IT development, courses on such modern aspects as computer technology, programming, and electronics should be developed in order to meet the society’s growing demands.