HCM City (VNS/VNA) - After graduating from high school, LeMinh Tu, who has a hearing impairment, enrolled in college in Ho Chi Minh City and paidan interpreter to help her study.

“But I really couldn’t afford to pay,” Tu said via an interpreter at aconference held on October 23 in HCM City that discussed access to education topeople with disabilities.

“My father and I fell into despair,” Tu said.

However, she did not want to give up the dream of studying at university, soshe convinced her father to let her apply to another university.

Van Hien University admitted her and hired an interpreter to support her afterthe first week of study, Tu said.

Nguyen Ngoc Hiep, who is visually impaired and a student at HCM City Universityof Pedagogy, said the shortage of textbooks and documents used for visuallyimpaired students was the common barrier in studying.

Students also face difficulties using buses to go to universities.
“I can’t see the bus numbers,” Hiep said, adding that the bus drivers hadoften passed by him without picking him up.

Ha Le An, deputy director of the city Public Transport Management and OperationCenter, said that universities should compile a list of their students withdisabilities who need to go to school by bus.

The list should be sent to the centre, An said, adding that it would be sent toits staff to universities to provide a free card for students with disabilitiesto go by bus.
The city is piloting a system with LED screens that will announce which busesare coming to the station in order to help people with hearing or visualimpairments.

Phan Thi Rat, who has a physical disability and graduated from HCM City OpenUniversity three years ago, said: “Climbing stairs at the university was anightmare for me.”

Many other people with disabilities have complained that universities had notexempted tuition fees. Only those with severe disabilities have receivedexemptions.

They suggested that universities open a division to support people withdisabilities and provide more funds for students with disabilities.

The country has 6.1 million people aged 5 and above with at least one disabilityin seeing, listening, motor skills or others, accounting for 7.8 percent of thecountry’s total population, according to the Population and Housing Censusof 2009, the latest census available.

Of the 6.1 million of people with disabilities, only 0.1 percent have graduatedfrom universities and colleges, according to census reports.

The conference was held by the HCM City-based Disabilities Research andCapacity Development (DRD) Centre to seek solutions to improve access toeducation for people with disabilities.-VNA