The 4^th industrial revolution is taking place widely and deeply and making comprehensive, profound changes in socio-economic life. This revolution is opening up opportunities for and posing challenges to building and promoting the high-quality human resources in military schools nowadays.

The 4^th industrial revolution (also known as the industrial revolution 4.0) has just taken place but considerably impacted on all aspects of the social life. As far as education and training is concerned, this revolution has step by step basically changed the management method, curriculum, and teaching-learning method. Specifically, traditional educational management method will be replaced by “smart management” while online, hi-tech education models will gradually take the place of the present education models. This trend has been posing challenges to the forces in charge of education and training in military schools, including the high-quality human resources. High-calibre personnel not only play a decisive role in educational management, teaching, and scientific research, but always take the lead in the struggle against hostile, wrongful viewpoints nowadays. Over the past years, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, and commanders of military schools have always set store by building and promoting the role of high-quality human resources in education and training and research. However, the building of this staff has witnessed weaknesses in quantity, quality and structure. It is noteworthy that the number of cadres and teachers studying for doctorate and registering the recognition for the titles of associate professor and professor tends to decrease; the quality of several cadres and teachers after being training has yet to meet the task requirements in military schools; the imbalance in the structure of manpower tends to be increasingly clear. Thus, building and encouraging the role of high-calibre human resources will make a breakthrough in the quality of education and training and research, meeting the requirements of Military building and Homeland defending in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0, reaffirming the status and prestige of military schools in the system of national and international education. To that end, it is necessary to take the basic measures as follows.

1. Making a change in forces’ awareness of building and promoting the role of high-quality personnel in military schools in the context of the 4^th industrial revolution. The high-calibre personnel act as the vanguard and the key force in grasping and using the achievements of the 4^th industrial revolution, particularly in applying information technology to enhancing the quality of teaching and research. However, the awareness of several forces towards this issue has yet to be full. They have improperly assessed the position and role of the high-quality personnel or had the signs of regarding educational degree as the absolute, or devoted insufficient attention to capabilities in leadership, management and command as well as living and working experience. Several cadres and teachers after being trained have yet to pay due regard to self-study and self-improvement, particularly in foreign languages and information technology. Being assigned to hold the unexpected positions, some cadres and teachers have been inactive in their work or even wished to change their job. Therefore, it necessitates leaders and commanders of military schools fully understanding the position and role of this staff in education and training as well as the impact by the 4^th industrial revolution in order to proactively formulate programs and plans for training and using this staff properly. Moreover, it is important to conduct propagation and education to honour the devotion of the high-quality personnel to education and training, particularly of top experts and excellent managerial cadres. Each cadre and teacher must be aware that studying for higher degree (doctorate) is only the necessary condition to become part of the high-calibre personnel. Most importantly, they have to apply the acquired knowledge to their work and continue to self-study and accumulate other necessary conditions to meet the requirements of reality.

2. Closely aligning the high-quality personnel training with the use of this staff. Our Party confirms that “It is essential to build the strategy for developing the country’s human resources in each sector and field via synchronous measures, with a focus on the measure to train and re-train human resources in schools”. That has been imposing a very demanding requirement for the high-calibre personnel. It is predicted that the number of cadres and teachers studying for higher education degree in the upcoming time tends to decrease; therefore, military schools must closely combine the personnel training with the use of this staff. Education establishments must grasp and follow the thought on “true education” and “true talent”. To do so, great value should be attached to managing the quality of the “output products” via the assessment of the cadets’ capability in practice during the training process and the verification of training and graduation results instead of the present management of the “input products”. Moreover, significance should be attached to equipping cadets and postgraduates with necessary skills, such as communication, research on foreign documents, information technology, and adaptation to social development trends to ensure the close alignment between training and use. When selecting cadres and teachers for training to be the high-calibre personnel, each office and unit must base on their demand and each area of teaching and military science. During the process of selection, priority should be given to not only ability but level of foreign language and information technology, political zeal, professional morality and capability in leading, managing and commanding the unit. Criteria for studying for postgraduate degree and use of cadres and teachers after being trained should be in a democratic, open fashion to promote the activeness and proactiveness of both learners and units. By doing so could this staff meet the requirements of reality, and would units deal with the issue on using cadres and teachers after being trained. The use of this staff should be decided by their task performance, not by their qualifications. To do so, it is necessary to cultivate this staff during operations and then use them properly in order to bring into play their role and strengths and overcome the waste of talent and “brain drain” in some units.

3. Creating favourable conditions for the high-quality personnel to master the fruits of the 4^th industrial revolution. Working environment is the “cradle” for cultivating and promoting people’s talent and wisdom. Reality has shown that military environment with the pressure of work partly impacts on the enthusiasm and creativity of cadres and teachers, including the high-calibre personnel. In order that this staff could master the achievements of the 4^th industrial revolution, importance should be attached to both investment in facilities and modern equipment and the issues related to manpower. To that end, leaders and commanders of military schools should pay due regard to building the passion, enthusiasm, and responsibility of forces, particularly the high-quality personnel towards the work of education and training. Leaders and commanders of military schools should adopt various measures to put this staff into different environments to cultivate them and promote their capability to the utmost. Due attention should be paid to building a democratic, open atmosphere during operations; to consulting top experts and excellent managerial cadres to honour and encourage their active, creative role in all activities, particularly in teaching and research. Moreover, it is necessary to building facilities and providing modern equipment, particularly for grass-roots level units. Priority should be given to equipping faculties with specialized classrooms, systems of virtual, stimulation devices, teaching software to allow the high-quality personnel to study, acquire and apply the fruits of the 4^th industrial revolution to designing lectures and improving the quality of scientific researches. At the same time, there should be mechanisms for encouraging this staff to research and create software, design electronic lesson plans and lectures, gather data to share and exchange information in teaching and scientific research in each school and between schools.

4. Continuing to build mechanisms and policies to attract the high-calibre personnel. To build the high-quality personnel in military schools to meet the requirements of the 4^th industrial revolution, the Party, State and Military should adopt special preferential treatment policies for this staff. At present, in addition to studying and supplementing policies on rank, salary, allowance, and housing, it is important to encourage them to overcome difficulties and actively devote themselves to the Army and country’s education. Party committees in military schools should impose the high requirements for the high-calibre personnel in operations to distinguish between this staff and other forces while implementing specific, practical policies to remove the egalitarianism and encourage their role and responsibility in performing the task. Furthermore, it is necessary to resolutely dismiss cadres and teachers failing to meet the requirements of reality. By doing so could military schools really attract and effectively use the high-quality personnel, meeting the requirements of Military building and Homeland defending in the face of the increasingly strong impacts by the 4^th industrial revolution nowadays.

Sr. Col. Vu Dinh Dac, PhD, Political Officer Training College