







































Children and Teenagers 
ISSN 2576-3709 (Print) ISSN 2576-3717 (Online) 

Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021 
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ct 

11 
 

Original Paper 

Recommendation of School Social Work Activities to Address 

Students Issues in Vietnam 
Dang Thi Huyen Oanh1* 

1 Faculty of Social Work, Hanoi National University of Education, Vietnam  
* Dang Thi Huyen Oanh, Faculty of Social Work, Hanoi National University of Education, Vietnam 

 

Received: May 28, 2020           Accepted: June 7, 2021         Online Published: June 14, 2021 

doi:10.22158/ct.v4n3p11                              URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ct.v4n3p11 

 

Abstract 

Bullying and physical violence, truancy, self-harm and other mental health issues are increasingly 

experienced within the school population. In being a crucial part of addressing such issues and the 

more traditional areas of poverty, family relationships and parenting, child abuse and neglect, 

home-school relationships, support for children with disabilities, school social work has become a 

specialist area of professional practice with a growing evidence base of effectiveness. This paper aims 

to explore issues related to middle-school students in Vietnam and their needs in school social work 

activities to address those problems. Implications for school social work research and practice which 

are recognized as a key area for students’ wellbeing are discussed.  

Keywords 

school students, social work, school issues, school social work, middle school 

 

1. Introduction 

Vietnam, a country of some 94 million citizens has grown markedly since winning the war at great cost 

in 1975 and then introducing market reform in 1986. Integral to sustaining a commitment to equal 

opportunity and social justice for all citizens has been the national education system. Another 

commitment to citizens' wellbeing has been the government endorsement in 2010 of the professional 

development of social work. The Vietnamese government through MOLISA (Ministry of Labour, 

Invalids and Social Affairs) officially classified social work as a profession. Following Decision 

32/2010/QD-TTg by the Prime Minister on the Development of Social Work as a Profession, the 

government allocated $US130 million for the training and development of social work staff. Now more 

than 50 universities and colleges offer social work degrees at some combination of bachelor, masters 

and PhD level. Many offer a special focus on developing the skills, knowledge and values for school 



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social work practice. While an increasing number of research projects, including action research, and 

students on placement at schools are evidencing the value of this profession in the school setting, there 

is as yet no legal and financial base for the employment of professional social workers in schools 

within the national educational system. 

In Vietnam, there are specific cultural issues underlying the emergence of intractable problems in 

schools. The school environment plays an important role in the life of Vietnamese children due to both 

the emphasis on education and the many hours they spend in school per week. While most children 

become productive citizens and achieve academically, many others have had negative experiences 

affecting their future. Both schools and families have high expectations of students’ academic 

performance. This pressure results in stress, anxiety, school avoidance and even suicide. Vietnam, like 

other school systems in the world, must contend with bullying, physical violence, truancy, self-harm, 

antisocial behaviours, and other mental health issues (Pells et al., 2016). Furthermore, other challenges 

for schools include serving areas with high rates of poverty, difficulties in family relationships and 

parenting, child abuse and neglect, the need to bridge home-school relationships, and supporting 

children with disabilities (Pells et al., 2016). Thus, school social work is a necessary field and 

specialized area of practice that can effectively address these issues (Villarreal Sosa & Ha, 2020). The 

aim of this paper is to explore the current problems among students and assess the need for school 

social work activities to address this. 

 

2. Method 

We distributed survey questionnaires to 200 students studying from grade 6 to grade 9 at 02 survey 

schools. Therefore, the number of samples to analyze was 200. After obtaining the results, we use 

statistical software in social sciences (SPSS 16.0) for processing and analysis. Before data collection, 

school principals, homeroom teachers received consent letters from the authors. Students were also not 

surveyed if they confirmed orally that they did not want to participate. The researchers were introduced 

to the students by homeroom teachers who explained the purpose of the survey. This research received 

approval from the Hanoi National University of Education Research Ethics Committee (HNUE-REC). 

 

3. Result 

Table 1 presents the demographic characteristics of students participating in the study. Eligible 

participants were from one middle school students in Hanoi, Vietnam. As described below, we recruited 

250 students including 44.8 % female (N=112) and 55.2% male (N=138). Student from grade 6th and 

grade 7th was the same number (N=80) (N=108), and the 9th grade was 90. 

 

 

 



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Table 1. Characteristics of Participants 

Characteristic N=482 Percent (%) 

Gender Male 138 55.2 

Female 112 44.8 

Grade 6 80 32.0 

 7 80 32.0 

 8 90 36.0 

 

The results in Table 2 showed that students faced several issues in which, the most popular was “poor 

academic performance” with the highest rate at 87.2%. 88.4% of students reported that the most 

difficulties related to their love and friendship and then was game addiction as reported. Other issues 

also reported as cheating in exams, vocational orientation, school violence or disrespect to teachers. 

 

Table 2. Students’ Issues in School 

 Poor academic 

performance 

(N) 

Cheating 

in exams 

(N) 

Games 

online 

addiction 

(N) 

Vocational 

Orientation 

(N) 

Love and 

friendship 

(N) 

School 

violence 

(N) 

Disrespectful 

to teachers 

(N) 

Others 

(N) 

Yes 218 57 212 43 216 43 53 29 

No 32 193 38 207 34 207 197 221 

Total 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 

 

There are several factors related to student’s issues in school. The most popular reported wasp 

psychophysiological characteristics (66.5%), then was family-related factors (60%), lack of life skills 

and values (50%), lack of school social work and school counselling services (45.7%) and others 

including lack of coordination between family-school-community, study pressures and rapid 

development of information technology (Table 3). 

 

 

 

 

 



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Table 3. Factors Related to Students’ Issues in School 

Order Factors Percentage  

1. Psychophysiological characteristics 66.5% 

2 Family-related factors 60% 

3 Lack of life skills and values 50% 

4 Study pressure 27.2% 

5 Lack of coordination between family-school-community 37.3% 

6 The rapid development of information technology 21.1% 

7 Lack of school counselling and school social work services 45.7% 

8 Lack of career direction 20.1% 

9 Others  8.1% 

 

Table 4 showed the different needs for school social work in Van Canh school. Participants reported 

that the most important was the cooperation between school and social work training schools to form a 

professional practice room on social work at the school (72%), school social work training for 

homeroom teachers (70%) and other staff in school (65.5%). 

 

Table 4. Students’ Needs 

 Needs Very 

important 

(%) 

Important 

(%) 

Slightly  

Important 

(%) 

Not 

important 

(%) 

1 Homeroom teachers are trained in school 

counselling and social work 

70 20.1 3.4 6.5 

2 Subject teachers are trained on how to 

integrate school social work into classrooms 

and experiential activities, etc. 

49.4 40.9 5.5 4.2 

3 Other staff in schools are trained school 

social work 

65.5 23.6 12.0 0.9 

4 Forming psychological clubs to support 

students 

42.9 28 13.9 15.1 

5 Having school social work department  40.9 39.7 11.9 7.5 

6 Having 1 or 2 school social workers 46.2 37.7 10.7 5.5 

7 The school form a professional practice 

room on social work at the school. 

72 18.1 2.4 7.5 



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4. Discussion and Conclusion 

The results of this study reflect several issues that students have faced within school like in the 

previous study (Dang et al., 2016; Le et al., 2011; Nguyen & Fahey, 2001; Villarreal Sosa & Ha, 2020).  

The results of this study show that the problems faced by students were diverse and complex. This 

showed that there is still a lack of supportive activities of school social work. From the actual situation, 

the need for school social work has been raised. This is the orientation and basis to build a school social 

work. 

The school social work training provided opportunities for a greater understanding among school 

teachers of the role of the school social worker, including psychosocial assessment, needs assessment, 

addressing issues such as bullying and mental health challenges such as suicidality, multi-tiered 

systems of support, and the evidence-based process. The importance of school climate and 

environmental factors was an issue for both students and teachers. Tier 1 or universal interventions are 

needed in order to address these issues in preventative ways, including teacher training around issues 

such as inclusion and mental health. Second, there is a need to continue to explore issues of equity and 

differences in ethnic groups and expanding ideas about what inclusive education means. There were 

few inclusive schools or classrooms for children with disabilities, and some of those that did “include” 

children with disabilities needed additional support with developing appropriate accommodations 

beyond simply having them present in the classroom without full participation in classroom activities. 

Finally, there are serious and unrecognized mental health concerns among the children in Vietnam. 

Though mental health concerns exist, there are few school and community resources to address 

them(Phuong et al., 2013). School social work can provide vital services in counselling centres in 

schools, as well as provide important linkages to community resources when available. The concept of 

school mental health a focus on prevention and universal intervention was also introduced during this 

project. In addition, school social workers can provide professional development to teachers to support 

them in including students with mental health challenges in the classroom and reducing stigma. 

This paper also recommends some possible solutions for developing school social work in Vietnam.  

Firstly, establishing a reputation for effectiveness. While Vietnam lacks a nationally established 

practice base, it should not need the sixty years needed in Victoria to establish a good reputation with 

citizens and government decision-makers. Considerable research is already being conducted by 

Faculties of Social Work and students are having an impact through their placement. A key task is to 

raise social awareness as to school social work and its effectiveness in practice. 

Secondly, National Commitment: To move closer to closing the circle between professional education 

as school social workers and professional practice at the national level requires a legal and financial 

commitment from national decision-makers. Part of this will be overcoming the silo thinking common 

in bureaucratic structures. For social work to flourish in a host organization it needs acceptance and 

commitment from the host whether health or education—both essential government services for 



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national wellbeing. The other aspect is that decisions to employ social workers should not come out of 

local budgets as the schools with the least resources are the most likely to benefit from social work 

services. The government needs to recognize and officially categorize professional school social 

workers in the school staff system with school social workers having an appropriate professional salary 

code. 

Thirdly, for faculties of social work: to further develop collaboration between universities and with 

organizations in school social work at all levels to fully tap expertise and experience in training and 

practicing social work. This would enable enrichment of learning materials and the creation of a 

network for training, researching and practicing school social work. School social work curriculum in 

Vietnamese universities should meet agreed professional standards and be continuously updated. 

Collaboration would support the publication of textbooks and other resources in the field of school 

social work. The school social work programs should be practicable and relevant while aware of 

international standards. For students to achieve the necessary beginning competency in these on 

graduation, it could be possible to lengthen and structure placements in schools to strengthen the 

learning. The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Ministry of Labours, Invalids and Social 

Affairs (MOLISA) could cooperate to organize courses to train and license graduate social workers as 

school social workers.  

And last but not least piloting a Vietnamese Model This has advantages but one of the strengths of 

school social work is the ability to respond to context and culture. So what works in one school will 

only be partially transferable to schools in general. So while perhaps a range of pilot projects could be 

held in different settings it might be possible to extend the employment of social workers in schools by 

defining the term counsellor to cover both psychologist and social workers. In Australia, for many 

positions, both professions are recognized as certified in counselling skills. 

 

References 

Dang, H. M., Weiss, B., & Trung, L. T. (2016). Functional impairment and mental health functioning 

among Vietnamese children. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(1), 39-47. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1114-2 

Le, P., Hagans, K., Powers, K., & Hass, M. (2011). Developing School Psychology in Vietnam. 

Communique, 39(6), 8-10. 

Nguyen, K. C., & Fahey, S. (2001). The Relationship Between Students’ Achievement and Early 

School Leaving in Rural Vietnam. Melbourne Studies in Education, 42(2), 49-67. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/17508480109556384 

Pells, K., Ogando, M., & Revollo, P. (2016). Experiences of Peer Bullying among Adolescents and 

Associated Effects on Young Adult Outcomes: Longitudinal Evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru 

and Viet Nam. Unicef, 3(1), 61. Retrieved from 



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