Labor & Education U.S Offers Disabled Vietnamese Student IT Training

The US is sponsoring a two-year Information Technology Training Program with over $380,000, providing disabled graduates the skills needed to find high-paying jobs in Vietnam's growing IT market, said the US embassy.

The program is to be run by Hanoi College of Information, with additional support from Catholic Relief Services, and will train up to 375 vision, hearing and mobility impaired students in skills that should lead to good jobs in Vietnam's information technology industry. The ongoing partnership between the United States and Vietnam is assisting the disabled, the US Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Aloisi noted in a dedication ceremony May 11. "In recent years, the US Government has provided approximately $43 million to assist persons with disabilities in Vietnam - and these efforts will continue." Mr. Aloisi revealed, explaining this project is only one part of a broad US effort to work with Vietnamese partners in a large number of areas. Currently, an estimated 2.5 million children in Vietnam need special support, including 150,000 orphans, over one million disabled children, 16,000 street children and 23,000 child laborers. Among them, few have the opportunity to go to school. Since 1998, the Vietnamese government has implemented the Ordinance on the Protection of Handicapped People, supporting their studies and integration into the community.