Because it has not received due attention, the workforce taking part in social work is very scarce and weak. Meeting the need to care for older people and support sick people, people with disabilities… in the community is therefore still very limited.
Scarce and weak
In many countries around the world, social work has developed into a professional occupation. However, in Vietnam this profession is only just beginning to take shape. According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the number of officers and staff working directly in social protection facilities and social centres, along with population collaborators and village-level child protection workers, is as high as 162,000. However, only a small number of these officers have university or college qualifications; most have not had basic training, and the majority work on the basis of enthusiasm and experience, or have only taken short courses.
Le Phuong Thuy (Head of the Counselling and Development Support Department, Centre for Women and Development), who has been working in social work for nearly 20 years, said: “Social work is not yet given due attention, and social workers are not properly recognised for their role and position. With the Peace House model, our centre provides counselling, training and support services for vulnerable women, especially women and children who have suffered violence or trafficking… In the course of their work, staff face many difficulties and dangers.
It is normal for counselling staff to receive threatening calls from victims’ husbands or relatives at midnight or 1 a.m. In addition, to do their work well and support their clients as best they can, they constantly face psychological pressure and must make great efforts to do their work well and support their clients as best they can. Despite all this hardship, staff incomes and living standards remain limited”.
Social work is distinctive in that it involves understanding, caring for and guiding vulnerable people, such as lonely older people, sick people, children, people addicted to drugs, sex workers… helping them overcome crises through counselling and psychological therapy… so the workforce needs thorough training in the right specialism and skills. However, this workforce in Vietnam is still scarce and weak. The country has nearly 50 universities and colleges offering social work training, but not many students take the entrance exams for these faculties.
“We have to invite foreign experts to work with us and train staff. Many social work students from universities also come to the Centre for internships or apprenticeships, but they have mainly only learned theory and have had no practice. Most of them arrive very bewildered and find it hard to enter the profession with confidence. Many come to learn the job for a short time of 2 – 3 weeks and then give up because they cannot bear the pressure of the profession”, Le Phuong Thuy shared.
Nguyen Van Hoi, Director of the Department of Social Protection (Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs), also admitted: “In reality, most social work staff have not had basic training. This workforce has developed spontaneously, mainly coming from mass organisations such as the Youth Union, the Women’s Union, the Association of Older People, the Veterans Association, ward and commune officers, and sometimes volunteers from the public. Most work from experience, without the necessary professional social work skills. As a result, the effectiveness of solving social problems and the problems of individuals, families, groups and residential communities is not high and lacks sustainability”.
Changing support policies
With the goal of developing social work into a profession in Vietnam, the Prime Minister issued Decision 32, approving the Project on Developing the Social Work Profession in Vietnam for 2010 – 2020, with the aim of retraining and raising the qualifications, professional knowledge and practical skills of around 60,000 social workers and collaborators.
Assessing Project 32, Nguyen Van Hoi said: “In implementing Project 32, certain achievements have been made: building awareness of developing the social work profession in the community, building a model for social work centres and social protection facilities in a new direction, and strengthening the team of collaborators in communes and wards. However, further raising community awareness of this profession is a whole process and needs more measures. Social work is not at all simple; it requires staff with intellect and good professional ethics. But with current incomes, many people are still not enthusiastic about this profession”.
According to Nguyen Van Hoi, MOLISA now has policies to support and improve the living standards of social workers. In addition to basic salaries, social workers also receive a public service allowance; some health staff in this profession receive an additional preferential occupational allowance, while social workers in other fields receive allowances for caring for people with disabilities, people with mental health conditions…
Alongside this, MOLISA is implementing a range of solutions to carry out Project 32 well and make social work a profession. At the same time, the Ministry is completing and issuing detailed standards for salaries and allowances to attract staff to this profession. It is focusing on improving staff capacity and on communication to change community awareness of social work. It is urgent to build service provision facilities; once services are built properly and scientifically, they will attract people to take part, and when properly invested in, creating a professional working environment will attract human resources.
Thu Trang – http://baotintuc.vn