Blog

Inside Vietnam's Growing Push for Inclusive Classrooms

22nd October 2026

Something is shifting in Vietnamese education, and it is worth paying close attention to.

Over the past decade, Vietnam has moved from treating disability as a welfare issue to recognising it as an education rights issue. The country has revised legislation, signed international conventions, and set out policy frameworks that formally commit the national education system to inclusion.

But policy and practice are two very different things. And in classrooms across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and the provinces in between, the distance between what the law says and what teachers are equipped to deliver remains significant.

This blog unpacks what is actually happening inside Vietnam’s push toward inclusive classrooms, what the evidence says about where progress is real and where gaps remain, and why teacher training sits at the centre of everything.

What Vietnam’s Inclusive Education Policy Actually Says

Vietnam’s legal commitment to inclusive education is not new, but it has become considerably more defined in recent years.

Article 28 of the Law on Persons with Disabilities (2010) explicitly designates inclusive education as the primary approach for educating children with disabilities in Vietnam, moving away from the historical model of separate special schools. The law states directly that inclusive education shall be the main approach applied for the education of persons with disabilities.

Building on this foundation, Circular No. 21/2024/TT-BGDDT, which took effect from January 14, 2025, replaced earlier circulars and continues to mandate that teachers, school leaders, and support staff receive training in the knowledge, skills, and techniques necessary for effective inclusive education.

In practical terms, the framework recognises three approaches to educating children with disabilities:

• Inclusive mainstream schools, where children with disabilities learn alongside peers in general classrooms
• Resource Centres for Inclusive Education (RCfIE), which provide specialist support to mainstream schools
• Special schools, which cater to children with more complex needs

The direction of travel is clearly toward mainstream inclusion. But implementation is the harder conversation.

Where the Gap Between Policy and Practice Is Widest

Despite stronger policy frameworks, real-world inclusion has not kept pace with legislative intent.

According to the Vietnam Disability Survey 2023, the proportion of children with disabilities attending school at the appropriate age alongside their peers actually declined at all three levels of general education compared with 2016. And the numbers tell a stark story: only 68 percent of children with disabilities attend primary school, with a dramatic drop to just 30 percent at upper secondary level.

UNICEF further reports that only one in six primary schools and one in ten lower secondary schools have a teacher trained in disability inclusion, while just three percent of schools have suitable infrastructure for students with disabilities.

The barriers are consistent across the evidence:

• Teachers in mainstream schools are not adequately trained to support students with disabilities
• Specialist support staff are concentrated in urban centres, leaving rural schools with almost no access
• Families of children with disabilities often lack information about their children’s rights under the law
• Assessment and identification systems for learning disabilities are inconsistent across provinces
• Cultural attitudes toward disability still influence whether families pursue enrolment at all

None of these are insurmountable. But they all point to the same root issue: the workforce that delivers inclusion has not yet been equipped to do so.

The Specific Challenge of Autism in Vietnamese Schools

Of all the areas within inclusive education in Vietnam, autism represents one of the most urgent and under-resourced areas.

In 2023, the disability rate for children aged 2 to 17 in Vietnam was recorded at 1.98 percent, with an average of nine students with disabilities present in each of the 79.6 percent of schools that reported having students with disabilities at all.

Yet the training picture for teachers working with students with autism is deeply inadequate. Research has found that only 1.9 percent of general educators in Vietnam reported having any training in autism identification, and close to 70 percent of teachers recognised that they did not have the experience needed to support autistic children in their classrooms.

The practical consequences are significant. Teachers who have not received autism training for teachers in Vietnam frequently lack the skills to design appropriate learning environments, manage sensory sensitivities, develop individual education plans, or communicate effectively with families of autistic students.

This knowledge gap does not reflect teacher motivation. It is a structural problem rooted in how teacher preparation programs in Vietnam have historically been designed.

Why Teacher Preparation Programs Have Fallen Short

Pre-service teacher education in Vietnam has traditionally focused on subject knowledge and pedagogical methods for mainstream learners. Special education content, where it exists at all, has largely been confined to dedicated special education programs rather than integrated into general teacher training.

As the Global Partnership for Education reported in 2024, only one in seven teachers in Vietnam currently has training in teaching children with disabilities. This figure reflects decades of teacher education design that simply did not account for the classroom realities most teachers now face daily.

This creates a compounding problem. When teachers enter classrooms and encounter students with autism or other disabilities, they are expected to deliver inclusive education without having been given the tools to do so. The result is often frustration on both sides, and in too many cases, children being effectively excluded from the learning taking place around them even while physically present in the classroom.

Circular 21/2024 attempts to address this by mandating training for all teachers and school leaders in inclusive education techniques. But mandate without provision is only the first step. The training infrastructure to deliver that mandate at scale is still being built.

What Inclusive Education in Vietnam Looks Like at the School Level

Despite the systemic gaps, there are meaningful examples of inclusive practice developing across Vietnam, particularly in urban schools that have benefited from NGO partnerships, international school influence, and access to specialist support networks.

Schools that are making genuine progress on inclusion tend to share a few common characteristics:

• Active School Leadership: Principals who treat inclusion as a school-wide priority rather than a single teacher’s responsibility create a fundamentally different environment for students with additional needs.
• Access to Resource Centres: Schools connected to Inclusive Education Resource Centres have better access to specialist advice, assessment support, and adapted materials.
• Family Involvement: Schools that invest in communicating with and including families of children with disabilities see better outcomes and stronger attendance.
• Peer Culture: Classrooms where inclusion is part of the school’s explicit values produce students who support rather than exclude peers with disabilities.

These examples matter because they demonstrate what is possible within the Vietnamese context. They also reinforce the evidence that teacher knowledge and school leadership are the two most powerful variables in determining whether policy becomes practice.

What This Means for Educators Working in or Moving to Vietnam

For Vietnamese teachers currently in mainstream classrooms, the legislative direction is clear. Inclusive education is the national framework, and training in special educational needs is now a formal professional requirement under Circular 21/2024, effective January 14, 2025, not an optional add-on.

For international educators and teaching professionals considering roles in Vietnam, the picture is one of significant opportunity. Schools, both national and international, are actively seeking teachers who arrive with grounded knowledge of inclusive practice and evidence-based approaches to disability.

For educators looking to build that knowledge base, accessing well-structured Special Education Courses in Vietnam or through internationally accredited online providers gives a meaningful professional advantage in a market where this expertise is in genuine short supply.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has been explicit: the next phase of inclusive education development requires specialist support centres in every locality and teachers who are trained to deliver genuinely inclusive instruction. The demand for qualified SEN educators is not a future consideration. It is a present reality.
 

The Role of International Collaboration in Building Capacity

Vietnam’s inclusive education journey has been significantly shaped by international partnerships.

The Global Partnership for Education, through a collaboration with the Nippon Foundation, committed USD 5.2 million to support Vietnam’s inclusive education development, focusing on improving access for children with disabilities and ethnic minority children across schools and Resource Centres.

Save the Children and UNICEF have contributed to curriculum development, teacher training initiatives, and policy advocacy across multiple provinces.

These partnerships have accelerated progress in specific locations, particularly in provinces with active project implementation. But they have also highlighted how uneven development remains across the country, with well-resourced pilot schools in one province sitting alongside schools in neighbouring areas with almost no specialist support at all.

Sustainable inclusion requires building national capacity rather than depending on project cycles. That means embedding inclusive education training into pre-service teacher preparation and making continuing professional development accessible to teachers across all provinces, not just those within a specific project’s geographic scope.

Bottom Line

Vietnam’s push toward inclusive classrooms is real, legislatively grounded, and gathering momentum. The Law on Persons with Disabilities (2010), Circular 21/2024 effective from January 14, 2025, and active international partnerships have created a policy environment more committed to inclusion than at any previous point in the country’s educational history.

But legislation creates the framework. Teachers deliver the reality.

The gap between what Vietnamese schools are legally required to provide and what teachers are currently equipped to deliver is the defining challenge of this moment. Closing that gap requires investment in teacher training at scale, and for educators ready to lead that change, building specialist knowledge through structured autism training for teachers in Vietnam or broader SEN qualifications is both a professional investment and a direct contribution to the students who need skilled, informed educators most.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the current state of inclusive education in Vietnam?

Vietnam has established a legal framework that identifies inclusive education as the primary approach for educating children with disabilities. However, the blog highlights a continuing gap between policy and classroom implementation, particularly around teacher preparation, specialist support, infrastructure, and consistent access across regions. Pasted markdown

2. Why is teacher training important for inclusive education in Vietnam?

Mainstream teachers increasingly work with students who have diverse educational needs, yet many have had limited specialist preparation. Appropriate training can help educators adapt instruction, understand different learning needs, and create classroom environments where students with disabilities participate meaningfully rather than simply being physically present. Pasted markdown

3. What can teachers learn from Special Education Courses in Vietnam?

Special Education Courses in Vietnam can help educators build knowledge relevant to supporting learners with additional needs and developing more inclusive classroom practices. This expertise is particularly relevant as Vietnam continues strengthening expectations around inclusive education and teacher preparedness. Pasted markdown

4. Why is autism training for teachers in Vietnam becoming important?

The blog identifies autism as a particularly under-resourced area within Vietnam’s inclusive education landscape. Autism training for teachers in Vietnam can help educators better understand areas such as learning environments, sensory needs, individualised support, and communication with families. Pasted markdown

5. What does an inclusive classroom look like in practice?

Effective inclusion involves more than enrolling students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. The blog highlights factors such as committed school leadership, access to specialist resources, family involvement, and a positive peer culture as important parts of creating an environment in which diverse learners can participate and progress. Pasted markdown