Socially disadvantaged children in Vietnam: a self evaluation study with implications for their education

Abstract

ABSTRACTAlthough educating disadvantaged children is a global issue, Asian disadvantaged children are understudied. This paper reports a mixed-methods study on the psychological issues in disadvantaged children by comparing their caretakers’ evaluation and their own self-evaluation to give implications for their education. Data were collected from a set of questionnaires based on Perceived Competence Scale and semi-structured interviews. First, the questionnaires were administered to 267 participants (202 children and 65 caretakers) at six state-financed centres in, an underexplored context, before 50 participants were randomly selected for personal interviews The quantitative results show that the disadvantaged children undervalued their own physical appearance, social communication and academic performance. The qualitative findings indicate that the children needed further support, and the centres were short of a budget to cover the children’s education and living expenses. The results suggest that this social group needs more attention of educators and authorities.

Keywords

• Academic performance
• communication
• physical appearance
• self-evaluation
• disadvantaged children