The International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) presented the Vietnam Blind Association with a number of schooling documents, for the blind. The gifts include more than 100 sets of documents in Braille for the illiteracy eradication program and about 1,000 sets of boards and pens in Braille. Over the past years, the ICEVI have made positive contributions to Vietnam’s education program for the blind. In 2007, the council and the Japan Nippon Foundation donated equipment for two multimedia rooms to the Vietnam Blind Association and Ho Chi Minh City’s Social Sciences and Humanities University. These helped needy, visually-impaired pupils and students to have better conditions for their study. In 2011, the ICEVI granted scholarships to visually-impaired students studying tertiary and higher education programs. Established in 1952, the ICEVI is a global association with the participation of 144 nations that promotes equal access to appropriate education for all children and youth with visual impairment. Vietnam is the first country in Southeast Asia selected to implement programs by the council. The education program for the blind in Vietnam aims provide education uniformly for visually-impaired children at their right age, and provide blind children with schooling documents. The program is also to implement illiteracy elimination and vocational training, helping visually-impaired people have much improved opportunity to integrate into the community. (vietnamplus.vn Aug 9)
