Located in southernmost part of Vietnam, Ca Mau holds a position of economic and defence-security importance to the Southwest and the whole country. Over the years, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee have focused their leadership and direction on combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation and promoting the provincial armed forces’ core role in performing military-defence task. It should be noted that in addition to socio-economic development, all-level party committees and authorities have synchronously, effectively implemented policies for social security, particularly in natural disaster and COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control. As a result, the people’s faith in all-level party committees and authorities has always been cemented. All-level defensive zones’ potential, force, and posture have been consolidated. Socio-economic development has always been fostered. The people’s life has been considerably improved. However, within the province, hostile forces still step up their “peaceful evolution” strategy and promote “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within, thereby profoundly impacting on socio-economic development, the Homeland protection, and particularly the defence of national sovereignty over Southwestern seas, islands, and continental shelf. Besides, crimes of various types and social evils are on the rise. Natural disasters and epidemics, especially COVID-19 pandemic will be complex and negatively impact on the province’s economy and the people’s health and life. Being fully aware of those difficulties and challenges, in the upcoming time, in order to satisfy the increasingly high requirements set by military-defence task, the Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the Provincial Military Command (PMC) will proactively advise the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee on drastically, synchronously adopting measures to successfully fulfil military-defence task, with a focus on defence and security education as the basis for the province’s rapid, sustainable socio-economic development.

First of all, in order to achieve a consensus amongst authorities, sectors, cadres, party members, and all people about defence and security education, the PMC will attach importance to advising the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee on grasping and executing documents by the Party, the State, the Central Defence and Security Education Council, and Military Region 9, particularly the Law on Defence and Security Education. At the same time, it will assist the Provincial People’s Committee in issuing decisions on consolidating all-level Defence and Security Education Councils under Prime Minister’s Decision 517/QĐ-TTg, dated April 1st, 2021. The Provincial Defence and Security Education Council will develop a plan on defence and security education for cadres from the 3rd group and assign targets of defence and security education to localities and units. Due attention will be paid to directing the organisation and operation of commune-level Defence and Security Education Councils and inspecting the operation of all-level Defence and Security Education Councils to opportunely detect and settle weaknesses, multiply typical examples and effective approaches at localities and units, strictly handle the signs of disregarding defence and security education, and rectify shortcomings of all-level Defence and Security Education Councils.

In addition to raising authorities and sectors’ awareness of this task, the PMC will proactively give advice to the Provincial People’s Committee on intensifying measures to improve the effectiveness of defence and security education so as to achieve a huge positive change in citizens’ political zeal, awareness, and responsibility and make the “spiritual potential” within defensive zones increasingly strong. The province will continue sending cadres from the 1st and 2nd groups to attend defence and security education courses held by the Ministry of National Defence and Military Region 9 and focus on organising such courses for cadres and citizens under the Government’s Decrees 13/2014/NĐ-CP and 139/2020/NĐ-CP and Circular 24/2014/TT-BQP by the Ministry of National Defence. At the same time, the PMC will cooperate with the Public Security Force in carefully making preparations for providing defence and security education for cadres under Circular 43/2020/TT-BCA by the Ministry of Public Security. Priority will be given to providing defence and security education for key cadres, cadres performing important tasks, cadres working at seas and on islands, and cadres with great potential at localities and units. The province will direct its localities to organise defence and security education courses for religious dignitaries, owners of businesses and vessels, and fishermen householders. The province will concentrate on bringing into play the role of party committees and authorities, especially each member of all-level Defence and Security Education Councils in leading, directing, and performing this important task.

Furthermore, the province will closely direct the work of defence and security propagation and education at schools. Emphasis will be placed on seriously, effectively implementing Prime Minister’s Decision 607/QĐ-TTg on approving the Project to “train teachers and lecturers of defence and security education for high schools, vocational schools, vocational colleges, and universities towards 2020.” In the process, the province will require schools to select and deploy their staff members to attend training courses to become teachers of defence and security education under the preset targets. Currently, within the entire province, there are 32 high schools with nearly 35,000 students, 3 colleges with more than 1,500 students, and nearly 1,000 learners at Provincial Political Training School; therefore, defence and security education for those students is a matter of utmost importance. In the upcoming time, in addition to reaching an agreement on contents of defence and security propagation and education for teachers and lecturers, the province will renew forms and methods of propagation and education and include defence and security education in training and education contents and programmes in accordance with each group of learners. Emphasis will be placed on building up students’ patriotism and pride in national tradition, heightening students’ responsibility for the subject of defence and security education, increasing students’ revolutionary vigilance, rendering students fully aware of the hostile forces’ plots and artifices in the new situation, and enabling students to overcome all difficulties for self-improvements.

All-level party committees, authorities, and Defence and Security Education Councils will pay due regard to equipping all people with knowledge of defence and security in a both wide and deep fashion and practical, proper, effective forms. The PMC will closely cooperate with Provincial Television - Radio Station and Ca Mau Newspaper in launching specialised pages and columns, namely “All-People National Defence,” “Ca Mau’s Security,” and “For National Sovereignty and Border Security” under plans. The province will require its districts to organise programmes of propagation on the province’s Television and Radio and on their web portals. The province’s press agencies will be asked to promote the role of journalists and collaborators in disseminating the armed forces’ performance of military-defence and security tasks. District-level Defence and Security Education Councils will develop specialised topics of defence and security education on district-level radio, with a focus on disseminating ordinances, laws, “good people, good deed” examples in socio-economic development, the performance of military-defence task, protection of security and order, and crime and COVID-19 prevention and control. Moreover, the province will require all-level Defence and Security Education Councils to include defence and security propagation and education for all people in ceremonies to celebrate national holidays and traditional days of localities, units, and the Military as well as in political events of the Party and the State. Doing so will enable the people to be fully aware of localities’ socio-economic development associated with defence-security task and make contributions to enhancing the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, preventing and combating degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, “self-evolution,” and “self-transformation,” and effectively implementing movements, namely “all people protect national security” and “Ca Mau’s provincial armed forces join hands in building new-style countryside.” In the foreseeable future, the province will keep disseminating knowledge of defence and security for all people via diverse, creative measures in accordance with each area’s particularities. Significance will be attached to practically renewing contents, forms, and methods of defence and security education. Doing so will help all people to heighten their revolutionary vigilance against the hostile forces’ plots and artifices and raise all citizens’ awareness and responsibility for building the all-people national defence, safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, airspace, seas, and islands, and maintaining political security and social order and safety as a prerequisite for the province’s rapid, sustainable socio-economic development.

With those above-mentioned directions and measures, hopefully, Ca Mau’s defence and security education work will be enhanced and achieve good results as an important foundation for ensuring political security and social order and safety and protecting the Homeland in the new situation.

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