Binh Duong province is located in the Southeast key economic zone. In recent years, the province has witnessed rapid socio-economic and cultural development, while its defence and security have been increasingly consolidated. Up to now, it has nearly 44,000 domestic enterprises with the registered total capital of about 380,000 billion VND. It has also attracted nearly 4,000 FDI projects with the total investment of about 34 billion USD from 64 countries and territories, ranking second nationwide in FDI attraction. The province has always maintained the average growth rate of 9.3% per annum. The people’s life has been considerably improved, with the estimated per capita income of 155.7 million VND in 2020. Those remarkable achievements are the result of efforts made by the provincial Party Organisation, Authority, people, and armed forces. In this regard, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has given advice to the province on well performing the work of defence and security education to contribute to maintaining political security and social order and safety, and facilitating investment and comprehensive, stable development.

Promoting its role as the Standing Agency of the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council, the PMC has proactively advised the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, and People’s Committee to release many resolutions, plans, directives and guiding documents on defence and security education. Doing so has helped create a consensus and promote the strength of the entire political system and people to carry out this important work. At the same time, the PMC has directed all-level military offices to give advice to local party committees and authorities on consolidating defence and security education councils at their level both qualitatively and quantitatively. In addition, it has proactively developed plans on defence and security education for all groups of learners and cooperated with departments, sectors, and localities in implementing those plans. Emphasis has been placed on providing defence and security education for cadres, officials, public servants, and particularly commanders within the armed forces. To deal with the demanding requirements of education and a large number of learners, the province has directed the all-level defence and security education councils to further inspect the work of defence and security education performed by offices, localities, and facilities. Doing so has enabled it to opportunely detect and overcome weaknesses in defence and security education, commend and multiply good models, and improve the quality and effectiveness of this work.

The Provincial Defence and Security Education Council presenting certificates of merit to organisations and individuals with their outstanding achievements in defence and security education

Grasping and executing the Law on Defence and Security Education as well as regulations and guiding documents by the Military Region 7’s Defence and Security Education Council, the province has provided defence and security education in a comprehensive, serious, uniformed manner. As for key cadres at all levels, the province would strive to complete the defence and security education programme for them by the end of this tenure of all-level party committees and people’s councils. To achieve this goal, yearly, the PMC collaborates with the Department of Home Affairs and the Organisation Commission in grasping cadres who have to attend defence and security education courses and the newly-appointed ones. Then, it would dispatch cadres from the 1^st and 2^nd groups to attend defence and security education courses according to the targets assigned by higher echelons. Regarding cadres from the 3^rd group, the province has designed plans and assigned targets to localities, offices and units early in order to allow them to arrange their affairs properly and attend courses. Moreover, it has directed localities to organise courses for cadres from the 4^th group and provide defence and security education for heads of trade unions, business owners, heads of clubs, landlords, and key workers. To improve the quality of defence and security education, the province has attached importance to building a contingent of lecturers and actively renewing the contents and forms of education. In addition to compulsory topics, the province has supplemented other ones relevant to its socio-economic and defence-security tasks, while collecting new information on defence-security task and situation in the sea, island, border areas, socio-economic and cultural development associated with defence-security consolidation, and the building of defensive zones. A part from full-time courses, the PMC has counselled the province to include defence and security education in yearly refresher courses for cadres and officials and organised visits to defensive zone exercises and defence-economic units. Doing so has helped enhance cadres’ capacity to lead and direct the defence-security task in each position, especially the building of the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the posture of people’s security as well as the task of combining socio-economic development with military-defence consolidation within defensive zones.

As the province has a large number of enterprises, the PMC has advised the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council to cooperate with the Provincial Federation of Labour in organising defence and security education courses for trade union heads and business owners so that they could grasp the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy, and the province’s regulations on the defence-security work. Doing so has also helped them to keep their mind on their investment and production and strictly observe the regulations on the defence-security work within their businesses. To enhance the quality of defence and security education for students, the province has actively implemented the Project on training and gradually standardising a pool of teachers of defence and security education. Prior to each school year, high school boards and teachers of defence and security education are provided with training courses. In the teaching process, the province has required schools and teachers to renew methodology and apply information technology to improving their lectures. In addition to the common programme, schools and teachers have been asked to supplement the contents relating to local revolutionary tradition and organise defence and security education competitions for high school students. As for college students, the contents of defence and security education have been combined with several social sciences and humanities subjects, while extracurricular activities have been organised to broaden their knowledge. In the 2019-2020 school year, in spite of COVID-19 pandemic, over 36,000 students have completed the subject of defence and security education which has equipped them with necessary military knowledge and skills, built up their love for their country and hometown, and raised their responsibility for the Homeland protection.

The province has also concentrated on disseminating knowledge of defence and security for all people. On a yearly basis, the PMC works with the Provincial Propaganda and Education Commission, the Provincial Radio and Television, the Provincial Newspaper, the Military Region 7’s Newspaper and Television, and the People’s Army Radio and Television’s Southern Representative Agency to develop plans and organise special columns called “All-People National Defence” to disseminate the knowledge of defence and security to all people. Focuses of news and articles have been placed on propagating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy, disseminating the armed forces’ activities and local and national glorious traditions as well as unmasking the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. The work of propagation has been included in cultural, artistic, and sports programmes, politico-social events, traditional festivals, and military call-up. It should be noted that the provincial armed forces have disseminated the knowledge of defence and security via their mass mobilisation work, new-style rural area construction, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and implementation of the policy for the Army Rear. Many models of propagation, such as “training marches associated with maintaining political security and social order and safety” by the Military Command of Tan Uyen Town, “one member of the militia force grasps the situation of three households” by the Military Command of Phu Giao District, and “the core political force within the reserve force and the militia and self-defence force” intended for foreign-invested businesses by the Military Command of Thu Dau Mot City have helped cement the unity between the Military and the people and build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” right at grass-roots level.

As a leading locality in the speed of industrialisation and modernisation, currently, Binh Duong has over 650,000 workers. This young force is easily incited. Thus, it is important to disseminate the knowledge of defence and security to this force. To do so, the province has directed localities and industrial zones to promote the role of politico-economic and mass organisations at grass-roots level in disseminating the knowledge of defence and security and proactively providing official information to orientate workers’ ideology against complex, sensitive issues. At the same time, significance has been attached to enhancing the movement of all people taking part in protecting national security, preventing crimes and social evils, and ensuring political security, social order and safety, and traffic safety. Notably, business owners have included defence-security knowledge dissemination in their operations, while many of them have organised reserve units under the law, thereby greatly contributing to maintaining security, order, and readiness for the defence work. Besides, due regard has been paid to improving workers’ material and mental life. Local party committees and authorities have cooperated with federations of labour and trade unions in building houses for workers, organising the system of nursery schools, and helping workers in difficulty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Doing so has made migrant workers consider Binh Duong as their second hometown, encouraged them to devote themselves to production and economic development, cemented their faith in the Party and authorities, and contributed to building the national defence potential and especially a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds.”

Sr. Col. NGUYEN HOANG MINH, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board, Commander of the PMC, Standing Deputy Chairman of the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council