Thoroughly grasping the Party’s strategic guidelines, in order to meet the increasing demands of defence and security education for students, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology (hereafter the School) has directed the mobilization of investment resources, ensuring necessary conditions for the autonomy in defence and security education. This is a crucial advance of the School.

Over the past years, the work of defence and security education for students has always been closely directed by the School’s Party Committee and Board of Directors. The core role of the National Defence Education Faculty (the Faculty) in advising and implementing this work has been brought into full play. Thereby, the quality of defence and security education has constantly been improved, making great contributions to the School’s education and training. The development of national defence task has imposed higher requirements for the School’s defence and security education. Therefore, the School has taken many measures with a breakthrough in the implementation of defence and security education autonomy. This has been identified as the content to renovate education and training in line with Resolution 29-NQ/TW, dated November 4^th, 2013 by the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) and enforce the Law on Defence and Security Education. With that determination, the School has actively prepared necessary conditions to gain the autonomy in the subject, including the investment in facilities, teaching equipment, and training ground. Amidst an array of difficulties, thanks to the outstanding efforts, the School has been qualified for the subject autonomy by the Central Defence and Security Education Council.

Lecturer of the Faculty giving instructions to students on how to fold clothes and blankets

First and foremost, the School has attached special importance to promoting the core role of the Faculty in consultancy and implementation. Closely following the instructions, decrees, circulars and guidelines of the Party, State, Ministry of National Defence and functional agencies on defence and security education work, especially the Joint Circular 18/2015/TTLT-BGDĐT-BLĐTBXH, dated September 8^th, 2015 by the Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs on teaching, learning and evaluating results of defence and security education subject in vocational and tertiary educational institutions; the Joint Circular 123/2015/TTLT-BQP-BGDĐT-BLĐTBXH dated November 5^th, 2015 by the Ministry of National Defence, Ministry of Education and Training, and Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the organization and operation of defence and security education centres. The Faculty has advised the School’s Party Committee and Director Board to develop a specialized resolution on the autonomy in defence and security education. At the same time, the School has formulated plans and disseminated the documents related to its subjects, creating unity in awareness and responsibility. The most important and also the most difficult point is to have accommodation and training ground for students to be trained as in military environment. To tackle this problem, the Faculty has actively reviewed and assessed true conditions of existing facilities and training grounds; recommended the School’s Party Committee and Director Board to invest in repairing and upgrading the Practice Facility in Dong Kinh Ward, Lang Son City to the School’s Defence and Security Practice Education Facility. Simultaneously, due regard has been paid to cooperating with the Regiment 123 under Lang Son Provincial Military Command in supporting some contents and aspects in training process at the School’s Defence and Security Practice Education Facility. In particular, the School has purchased sufficient military uniform and shooting practice machine in the service of training, inspection and evaluation.

In parallel with the preparation of the Defence and Security Practice Education Facility, the Faculty has actively recommended the School’s Party Committee and Director Board to invest funds to strengthen the system of lecture halls and specialized classrooms, buy more modern teaching equipment, and apply the 2D and 3D simulation technology to teaching military and defence theoretical contents and policies. To date, 100% of specialized lecture halls have been equipped with modern teaching equipment, such as computers with appropriate application software, projectors, sound systems, diagrams, etc. Moreover, the School has intensified the application of scientific research products to teaching, managing and evaluating students’ results of defence and security education subject, such as: “Applying Flash Player 6 software in combination with Video studio 11 software to military technique lectures”, “Integrating the software of managing, informing marks, granting defence and security education certificates into the School’s Website”, etc.

Along with the investment in upgrading infrastructure, material and equipment, in order to satisfy high requirements and strict regulations on the autonomy in defence and security education subject, the School has focused on the consolidation and standardization of the Faculty lecturers. Over the past time, the School has always paid attention to preparing seconded officer source and recruiting qualified lecturers, building a sufficient and high quality contingent of lecturers. In addition, consideration has been given to doing well the planning work, diversifying forms of training so as to standardize the contingent of defence and security lecturers. Currently, 100% of lecturers of the Faculty hold bachelor degrees, nearly 80% of them have postgraduate degrees; 100% of lecturers have capacity for teaching all lectures. This is an important factor, ensuring the good defence and security education autonomy of the School.

Due to the distant Defence and Security Practice Education Facility, lecturers and students have to travel a long way there after theoretical study at the School. This has a significant impact on the ideology of the cadre and lecturer contingent and the subject organization and administration. To overcome this matter, on the one hand, the School has strengthened the work of educating and raising awareness and sense of responsibility of its cadres and lecturers; on the other hand, directed the Faculty to select experienced lecturers to assign to the managing responsibility at the School’s Defence and Security Practice Education Facility. At the same time, attention has been paid to formulating and approving defence and security education programs and plans in conformity with practical conditions, as well as enhancing inspection, examination, and opportunely detecting and rectifying limitations. Additionally, the Faculty has cooperated with the Departments of Student Affairs and Media Politics in well executing the dissemination work, effectively using social network as a supporting channel to help students, families and communities acquire proper understanding about defence and security education.

In order to heighten the quality of defence and security education subject, the School has maintained a strict procedure of teaching and strengthened student management and training, ensuring that after the course, students are not only equipped with basic knowledge about national defence and security policies but also really trained and experienced in military environment. Accordingly, the School has concentrated on equipping students with both military operational knowledge and skills and strengthening supporting activities; the program and plan are divided scientifically and appropriately. In the first half of the course, students study at the School with basic knowledge of the Party’s military policies, such as: people’s war, national defence, etc.

The School has required lecturers to promote the effectiveness of modern teaching facilities, step up method innovation, stick defence and security education to specialization training for students to study, exchange and comprehend knowledge in a systematic way. Meanwhile, due regard has been paid to actively giving students chance to watch video clips about soldiers’ discipline, regimes and regulations in order to make them ready regarding psychology to get training in the remaining period. At the Defence and Security Practice Education Facility, students are divided into companies. Lecturers directly work as the commanders of platoons and companies, perform “3 togethers” with students according to the program and plan. Therefore, lecturers and students have sympathy and strong attachment in the training process. In order to help students experience military environment, the Faculty has maintained full military discipline, daily and weekly regimes according to Military Regulations. The daily regimes, ranging from getting up to sleeping, have been guided and executed seriously. At the same time, the weekly regimes have also been fully implemented, such as: flag salutation ceremony, barrack cleaning, roll call, etc. As a result, students have really been put in strict disciplinary environment. In such environment, students have been trained with basic skills of troop formation, shooting, grenade throwing, infantry fighting tactics at the standard training ground with sufficient weapons and equipment. In particular, students have had the chance to visit some military units, directly observed the landscape and arrangement in the camps and the operations of exercising regimes, collective activities, and training, etc. Besides, students have participated in the exchanges of culture, arts and sports with cadres and soldiers of Regiment 123, creating a joyful atmosphere in the task performance. These activities have helped students to train their sense of discipline, self-awareness, and meticulousness, and understand the characteristics, requirements, sense of discipline and unity within a collective. This is an important factor for students to foster and develop their personality - the initial essential element in readily fulfilling their national defence obligations.

Despite the new application, the achievements have affirmed the right direction and outstanding efforts of the School in the autonomy in defence and security education subject. This is a premise for the School to further improve the quality of this subject, contributing to training human resources of comprehensive quality, meeting the requirements of building and protecting the Fatherland.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Van Quang, MA, Dean of the Faculty