As a great educator of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh always exuded profound and comprehensive thoughts that serve as the guiding compass for the cause of education and training of the country. Therefore, studying and applying his thoughts in developing of the cadre of lecturers at military colleges in general, and Army College No. 1 in particular, is of paramount importance.   

Uncle Ho is the founder of a new educational system, aspiring to bring Vietnam to “the throne of glory to compete with the major powers of the five continents”. After Vietnam regained independence, one of the urgent tasks set forth by President Ho Chi Minh was to “reform education”. According to him, the pivotal issue for developing this new educational system is developing a cadre of educators, regarding this as the foremost important task. He emphasised that “…without teachers, there would be no education”.

Regarding the Tran Quoc Tuan Military School (now Army College No. 1), President Ho Chi Minh always paid close attention to the College’s educational and training activities. He once advised “teachers should strive to find ways to make teaching easy to understand and to facilitate rapid progress”. He also demanded that the teaching staff truly exemplify virtue and talent and be exemplary in their thought, morality, lifestyle, and work, displaying intelligence, pedagogical methods, and scientific approaches that link theory with practice, etc. In light of President Ho Chi Minh’s thought and the directives of the Party, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence regarding education and training and the development of the team of lecturers, in recent years, the College’s Party Committee and Board of Directors as well as the party committees and commanders at all levels have attached importance to the development of the cadre of lecturers, achieving comprehensive results. To date, this cadre has rapidly increased in both quality and quantity. The percentage of personnel with postgraduate certificates has witnessed a significant increase, reaching 63.25% (an increase of 24.81% compared to the previous term). The lecturers possess good political qualities, morality, enthusiasm, and passion for their profession. Besides, their pedagogical abilities, foreign language proficiency, computer skills, and physical fitness are progressively improved. As a result, they can successfully fulfil their teaching and scientific research duties.

Female teachers of the College in the launch of new academic year (Photo credit: qdnd.vn)

In the coming years, facing the demands of the reform of education and training and the cause of Army modernisation, the College is required to continue to “develop a cadre of lecturers and educational management officers with reasonable structure in terms of quality and quantity, meeting the standards”. To accomplish this political task, party committees and commanders at all levels need to implement a set of synchronised measures, among which the creative application of Ho Chi Minh’s thought in developing the cadre of lecturers is an urgent issue.

Firstly, it is crucial to enhance the awareness and responsibility of party committees and commanders at all levels about the position and role of the cadre of lecturers. Imbued with Uncle Ho’s thought that “without teachers, there would be no education”, party committees and commanders need to fully understand the position, role, and significance of the teaching staff, thereby defining their responsibility in leading and directing the restructuring, development, and training of the cadre of lecturers with morality and professionalism. Accordingly, party committees and commanders at all levels, particularly those of faculties, should focus on thoroughly grasping, concretising, and effectively implementing the directives, resolutions, and projects of the Party, the State, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence regarding education and training. The primary focus is on the Project entitled “Developing a cadre of lecturers and educational management officers that meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive reform of education and training in the Army for the 2020 - 2030 period”. Closely aligned with the characteristics, functions, and tasks, an accurate assessment of the state of the cadre of lecturers, especially in terms of quality, quantity, and task completion results, should serve as a basis for advising the Board of Directors on policies and measures to develop a teaching staff meeting the criteria and standards as regulated by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of National Defence. It is essential for the College to promote propaganda and education to enhance the responsibility of organisations and forces in developing the cadre of lecturers. Besides, the College should eliminate incomplete, non-comprehensive perceptions that undermine the role of lecturers or the mindset that developing the cadre of lecturers is the sole responsibility of the Party Committee, the Board of Directors, and the party committees and commanders of faculties. This approach aims to create unity in understanding, leverage the responsibility of organisations and forces, and garner the support of cadets, employees, and soldiers of the College in building the teaching staff.

Secondly, the College continues standardising the cadre of lecturers in line with the requirements of the reform of education and training. As one of the major institutions of the Army with a large number of cadets and various specialised faculties, the college has specific demands for its teaching staff, including good physical health and expertise in military pedagogy. Therefore, the standardisation of the cadre of officers should be comprehensive in terms of quantity, capability, qualification, and physical fitness, with a focus on quality. Importance should be attached to selecting leading experts to hold key positions in faculties and advisory bodies for education and training, embodying the spirit of “daring to think, to speak, to act, to take responsibility, to innovate and be creative, to confront difficulties and challenges, and to act for the common interest”. Standardising quality requires developing a teaching staff trained in their respective specialisations, with political qualities, morality, pedagogical capabilities, and teaching methods meeting the standardisation requirements of the State and the Ministry of National Defence. Furthermore, it should be continuously innovative and creative, as instructed by President Ho Chi Minh: “Teachers should find ways to teach and decide what to teach so that students can understand quickly, remember clearly, and make rapid progress. Teaching and learning should meet the needs of the nation and the State”. The College’s goal is to train both domestic and international cadets into infantry command and staff officers at the university and postgraduate levels. Therefore, alongside standardisation according to the general requirements of the State and the Army, the College, especially faculties, needs to identify specific requirements in terms of qualities, capabilities, qualifications, physical fitness, pedagogical skills, and practical experiences suitable for the characteristics of tasks and training objectives and requirements. Notably, to meet the requirements of a fundamental and comprehensive reform of education and training, the cadre of lecturers should possess extensive background knowledge, language proficiency, and computer skills to ensure the process of innovating teaching content and methods, adhering to the viewpoint that “if there is no continuous progress, one will not keep up with the times and will be left behind”.

Thirdly, the College enhances the quality of sourcing, selecting, training, and developing the cadre of lecturers. Thoroughly grasping Uncle Ho’s teaching that a teacher should “always strive to learn more about politics and his specialisation” and implementing the Ministry of National Defence’s Project entitled “Developing the cadre of lecturers and educational management officers in the Army for the 2023 - 2030 period and beyond”, functional agencies should proactively advise the Board of Directors in developing plans for sourcing, selecting, training, and developing the cadre of lecturers. The recruitment pool should be diversified, including outstanding graduates from regular training programmes, officers with pedagogical aptitude and skills who have practical experiences in grassroots units, and graduates from non-military universities for specialisations where the Army has needs but has yet to provide training. Moreover, it is essential to leverage the role of party committees and commanders at all levels, especially heads of departments and faculties, in selecting, training, and developing their teaching staff, ensuring alignment with the specialised tasks of each department and faculty. Besides, the College should diversify the forms of training and development by combining on-site training with sending lecturers to academies and schools within and outside the Army and overseas training programmes. Meanwhile, following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, it should also emphasise the importance of self-study and self-training among lecturers so that they can build motivation and determination to learn and strive for lifelong achievement in the cause of education and training.

Fourthly, the College links teaching with scientific research among the teaching staff. This approach is a primary measure for innovating teaching content and methods, ensuring no rigid and dogmatic impartment of knowledge exists. Therefore, party committees and heads of faculties and functional agencies should strengthen leadership and direction to improve the quality of teaching and scientific research of lecturers. To enhance the feasibility and practical applicability of scientific works, the selection and proposal of research topics from the outset must closely align with the goals and requirements of the College’s educational and training innovation. Based on the results of approved research, functional agencies should advise and proactively develop specific programmes and plans to timely incorporate research findings into the teaching content and curriculum. Simultaneously, the College should perfect mechanisms and policies to encourage lecturers’ participation in scientific research. The compensation system should be practical and commensurate with the lecturers’ contributions, including both material and spiritual incentives, to motivate them to engage in scientific research enthusiastically and passionately.

Fifthly, it is crucial to intensify the innovation of teaching and learning methods, examination, and assessment of results towards a modern, learner-centred approach. The lecturers should diversify and flexibly apply both traditional and modern teaching methods in alignment with the practice to foster learners’ initiative, proactivity, and creativity, linking theory with practice and academic knowledge with hands-on application. Besides, faculties should maintain the quality of activities for improving teaching methods, such as lesson reviews, lecture attendance, sample lectures, trial lectures, etc., to identify limitations and timely adjust teaching methods according to Ho Chi Minh’s thought: “Teachers today should not take after those in the past, who only disciplined students and earn their money. Modern teachers have a responsibility towards the people by training officers to serve the people. Hence, the teaching methods and concepts should be different”. Additionally, the College should encourage the application of information technology in teaching and testing while promoting military democracy, creating opportunities for lecturers to interact, learn, and cooperate with educational and training institutions within and outside the Army, thus fostering a vibrant, competitive atmosphere and enhancing the quality of education and training. Last but not least, the College should actively innovate the content, forms, and methods of examinations and assessment of learning outcomes; emphasise inspection, examination, re-inspection, preliminary review, summary, and lesson drawing; strictly handle any cases of violations of regulations or malpractice in examinations and assessments to ensure objectivity, fairness, and contribute to developing high-quality military personnel, thus meeting the requirements of Army building and modernisation.

Senior Colonel, Dr. NGUYEN QUANG CHUNG

Army College No.1