Can Tho is a centrally-controlled city, an economic, commercial, service, tourism, education and training hub, holding a position of strategic importance in terms of defence and security to Mekong Delta region. Over the years, in parallel with boosting socio-economic development and building Can Tho into a smart city and a growth pole of the country, the city has always attached importance to strengthening defence, security, and Fatherland protection. In this regard, the work of defence and security education for groups of learners has been carried out comprehensively, synchronously at all levels with a lot of innovations and the participation of the entire political system, thereby effectuating a huge positive change in public awareness and all sectors, organisations, localities, and citizens’ responsibility for Fatherland protection, contributing to improving defensive zone potential, building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”, maintaining political security and social order and safety, creating a favourable condition for the city’s rapid, sustainable development.

Buddhist dignitaries attend defence and security education course in 2023

Grasping and implementing the Law on defence and security education, the Government’s decrees and decisions, and guiding documents of ministries, sectors, and Military Region 9’s Defence and Security Education Council, the city has focused on enhancing all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and direction and raising public awareness of this important task. As the Standing Agency of the Municipal Defence and Security Education Council, the Municipal Military Command (MMC) has worked with departments and sectors to advise the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People’s Committee on issuing the system of documents for guiding and conducting the work of defence and security education in a close, serious, proper manner. At the same time, coordination between the MMC and other competent offices has been maintained to propagate and disseminate the Law on defence and security education and other relevant documents practically, effectively. Doing so has enabled all sectors and people, particularly key leaders to fully understand that defence and security education is a strategic policy of our Party and an important part of defence-security work within localities. Besides, the outcome of defence and security education has been seen as a criterion for assessing all-level party organisations, authorities, and key leaders’ leadership and management. As a result, this work has been uniformly, synchronously carried out at all levels, while the synergy of the entire political system and people has been mobilised in the process.

There is a fact that all-level Defence and Security Education Councils’ capabilities in staff work and organisation are of utmost importance. Therefore, the city has always attached significance to consolidating those Councils and raising their operational quality. To that end, the city has directed sectors and localities to review and grasp those Councils’ changes in membership to opportunely consolidate those Councils with sufficient quantity and proper structure. Moreover, the city has attached great value to training Council members, assigning specific tasks to each member, and completing operating Regulations of those Councils. At the same time, all-level Councils have been required to actively renew their mode of operation, give sound advice to local party committees and authorities, inspect and guide the implementation of defence and security education work in localities, agencies, and organisations to ensure that this work would be increasingly effective and practical. In the process, the city has concentrated on promoting the role of all-level military commands, particularly the MMC as standing agencies of all-level defence and security education Councils in coordinating, advising, and performing the work of defence and security education. Annually, the MMC has proactively reviewed and grasped the number of learners as the basis for developing education plans under regulations and assisting the Municipal Defence and Security Education Council in giving advice to the Municipal People’s Committee on targets of defence and security education for each locality, office, and organisation. The MMC has strengthened inspection and supervision of the content and program of defence and security education to completely deal with merit-driven disease, formalism, and flippancy in this work. Additionally, the MMC has directed local military offices to attach great value to advising party committees and authorities at their levels on strictly maintaining preliminary and final reviews to opportunely detect and multiply typical examples, handle weaknesses, and keep raising the quality and effectiveness of this important work.

Leaders of Military Region 9 and Can Tho city give encouragement to newly conscripted soldiers

The city has focused its leadership and direction on renewing the content, programs, and forms of defence and security education in accordance with each group of learners as a core issue. Can Tho has a high population density, with a large number of religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Caodaism, Protestantism, Pure-Land Buddhism, Baha’i Faith, Minh Su religion, Buu Son Ky Huong (Way of the Strange Fragrance from the Precious Mountain), Tu An Hieu Nghia (Four Debts of Gratitude), and Muslim. There are two religious education centres in the city, namely Saint Quý Seminary and Khmer Theravada Buddhist Institute; the city is home to nearly 500 education institutions and hundreds of headquarters and representative offices of domestic and foreign organisations with thousands of officials and employees. Therefore, the content, programs, and forms of defence and security education must be identified closely and scientifically. With reference to the content of defence and security education, the city has adhered to higher echelons’ circulars and guidance and given updates relating to the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policies on defence, security, ethnicity, and religion, its political tasks, and national sovereignty over border, seas, and islands, particularly the Southwest. Regarding forms of defence and security education, the city has advocated the decentralisation of this work. More specifically, defence and security education courses for the 2^nd group of learners have been organised right in the city’s localities by Military Region 9. Meanwhile, the city and 9 districts have focused on providing defence and security education for the 3^rd and 4^th groups of learners under regulations. Over the past years, Can Tho has been among localities which have well performed the work of defence and security education for religious dignitaries and followers. To achieve the highest effectiveness in the process, the city has directed the MMC to carefully study the particularities of each religion. As for Christians, the MMC has cooperated with the Fatherland Front and the Committee for Religious Affairs in discussing with pastoral councils of Catholic churches within districts about the time and venue for defence and security education courses to avoid religious holidays. As for followers of Hoa Hao Buddhism and other religions, the MMC and other relevant competent offices have coordinated with the Executive Committee of Hoa Hao Buddhism, head monks of pagodas, and persons with great prestige within religions to uniformly hold education courses. Not only via defence and security education courses, the city has directed district-level military agencies to frequently provide information and documents for religious dignitaries and encourage them to widely disseminate among their fellows in religious meetings, thus enabling the people, particularly religious followers to trust in the Party’s leadership and actively take part in the city’s development.

As the city is home to many universities and colleges, it has attached significance to raising the quality of defence and security education for pupils and students – future masters of their hometown and country. The city has required education institutions to seriously conduct defence and security education programs as a compulsory subject under regulations. As a result, on a yearly basis, nearly 30,000 students and more than 35,000 pupils have been equipped with knowledge of defence and security, 99.03% of them have got pass, and over 85% of them have achieved merit or distinction in this subject. In 2022, Can Tho was selected to hold the 3^rd defence and security education sports competition for high school students by the Ministry of Education and Training, thereby allowing the city to draw many valuable lessons on this subject in the upcoming years.  

Furthermore, the work of defence and security education for all people has been directed and carried out in various forms, via many measures, with the participation of all forces. The MMC has cooperated with the Municipal Party Committee’s Information and Education Commission and the Department of Information and Communications in directing press agencies of the city and districts to enhance propagation work and open specialised columns on all-people national defence and people’s security. The specialised programs, namely “All-people national defence” and “For national security” have been broadcasted 4 times a month on Can Tho Radio and Television. At the same time, the city has directed district-level military offices to well implement regulations on coordination between the Military and the Public Security Force in formulating plans and selecting topics of political security and social order and safety to conduct propagation work among the people. It has continued to promote the role of communicators and collaborators, while regularly organising training courses and providing information for this force. Moreover, due attention has been paid to flexibly applying forms and methods of propagation and education appropriate to local culture and tradition, integrating propagation into meetings of local communities and operations of Fatherland Front Committees and organisations, promoting the role of Women’s Unions, Youth Unions, Veterans’ Associations, persons with great prestige within religions and communities in propagation work. As a result, there has been a profound positive change in public awareness and responsibility of cadres, officials, religious dignitaries, students, and all citizens for building all-people national defence and maintaining political security and social order and safety.

Thanks to those aforementioned measures, Can Tho city has gained both deep and wide development in defence and security education, making contributions to raising the quality and effectiveness of military-defence work at all levels and building municipal defensive zone potential and posture for Fatherland protection. 

Col. HUYNH VAN HUNG

Member of the Municipal Party Committee Standing Board

Commander of the MMC