Being assigned to train cadres, actors/actresses, and employees in the cultural, literary, and artistic field serving the Military and the people, over the years, the University’s Party Committee and Board have adopted various measures synchronously to successfully fulfil their education and training task. It should be noted that the University has trained cadres with master’s degree, bachelor’s degree, associate degree, and vocational training degree in the cultural and artistic field for theatres, ensemble units, cultural houses, research centres, and public non-business cultural and artistic units across the Military. It has maintained international cooperation in training cultural and artistic cadres and employees for artistic units of Laos and Cambodia. It has taken part in cultural and artistic operations to serve troops and the people, while training cultural and artistic cadres and employees for mountainous, isolated, remote provinces and developing human resources for the country’s modernisation and industrialisation. It has undertaken cultural, literary, and artistic researches for education and applied them in reality. Graduates from the University have always fulfilled their task and greatly contributed to raising the quality of artistic operations within the Military and improving troops’ cultural and mental life.

At present, the University is streamlining its organisational structure. Meanwhile, the dark side of the market economy and the hostile forces’ sabotage strategy in the ideological, cultural, artistic field are negatively impacting on the University. To fulfil the task, the University’s Party Committee and Board have focused on raising the quality of education and training as a breakthrough, with several central measures as follows.

Due regard has been paid to building a contingent of cadres and instructors to meet the requirements set by education and training in the new situation. Instructors and cadres always play a key role in the University’s quality of education and training. Implementing the Project on developing education and training within the Military in the period of 2020-2030 and grasping the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress on “training and developing a contingent of leaders, managers, and staff cadres in the cultural and artistic field, particularly the key ones, with good knowledge of culture, political zeal, and great professional capacity to meet the task requirements,” the University’s Party Committee has issued the Resolution 248-NQ/ĐU, dated January 27^th, 2021 on leadership over the building of a pool of cadres. According to this Resolution, by 2025, all cadres and instructors shall hold bachelor’s degree, 75% of them shall have postgraduate degree, and 90% of them shall be able to apply information technology to teaching and educational management; by 2030, 25% - 30% of them shall be capable of working in the international environment. To reach that goal, the University has placed emphasis on standardising its instructors and educational managers’ qualifications, teaching method, and morality. Each cadre and instructor have been required to set a good example for cadets to follow. Great value has been attached to actively detecting potential cadres and instructors and improving their qualities and professional competence, with priority given to instructors in charge of cultural and artistic subjects. The University has directed its faculties to build groups of versatile instructors so that each person would be able to teach different subjects. Faculties have also been required to combine teaching with scientific research. Besides, the University has selected and dispatched cadres and instructors for further education both at home and abroad. It has also deployed its staff members to grass-roots level units and assigned them to conduct field surveys. At the same time, it has invited top cultural and artistic experts of our country and others to deliver specialised topics. Those above-mentioned measures have enabled the University to build a contingent of cadres and instructors with good qualities, professional competence, and great prestige; they have gradually accessed modern methods of education organisation and management for the University’s development in both long and short terms.

Significance has been attached to educating cadets’ incentive and responsibility and enhancing work placement and performance. Due attention has been paid to educating cadets on President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings: “culture and arts are also a front. Artists are soldiers on that front.” Each cadet has been asked to proactively improve their qualities and capacity, frequently grasp the Party’s guidelines and viewpoints on culture and arts, uphold political directions during research, composition, and performance, actively take part in performing for troops and the people, and heighten a sense of responsibility for building and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture deeply imbued with national identity. In the training process, the University has attached importance to carrying out the work of political education and ideological orientation. At the same time, it has focused on improving cadets’ professional knowledge, performing method, and revolutionary morality. Under the spirit: “all for beloved cadets,” cadres and instructors have always dedicated themselves to building their cadets’ incentive and responsibility. Due attention has been paid to organising work placement and performance for cadets, closely combining learning with practice, and aligning performance with work placement at grass-roots level. The University has designed regulations on practice and work placement. Via key music and art performances in major political events of the country and the Military and others serving troops and the people in the remote, isolated, border, sea, island areas, cadets have had a chance to improve their political zeal, professional knowledge, and performing style. The University has directed its faculties and cadet management units to render cadets fully aware of the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy, heighten cadets’ revolutionary vigilance, and resolutely fight against the degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” All staff members have been required to play a vanguard role in combating the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” in the cultural and artistic field.

The University has actively renewed the contents and methods of training and education. Grasping the Party’s guidelines and directives on culture, literature, arts, and education, the University’s Party Committee has issued the specialised Resolutions on “raising the quality of foreign language teaching and learning” and “leadership over the cultural, literary, and artistic work” towards 2020 and beyond with the consistent goal of “training what the Military and society need, directing towards grass-roots level units, and adhering to social realities.” To that end, the University’s Party Committee has focused its leadership on renewing the training contents and programmes in accordance with each group of cadets, reducing class hours, increasing practice, and enhancing information technology and foreign language training. The University has directed its faculties to actively apply the learner-based approach, step by step adopt modern teaching methods, and further share experiences in clerical work, archiving work, journalism, research, composition, and performance during the teaching process. Consideration has been given to applying pieces of software to renewing examinations, inspections, re-examinations, and testing to assess the training outcome in a substantive manner. The University has required its instructors to follow the motto of “basics, systematisation, uniformity, and specialisation,” flexibly apply training viewpoints and principles, and put learners at the centre of the teaching process. Instructors have also been asked to assign field researches to cadets, diversify debates, and eliminate the passive teaching - learning approach in order to promote the role of learners and gradually transform the training process into the self-training one. The University has stepped up scientific researches and considered this work as a yardstick for evaluating the task performance of offices, units, and staff members. As a result, researches and initiatives have been effectively applied to the training process. Furthermore, the University has maintained close cooperation with other cultural and artistic training centres both at home and abroad to keep raising the quality of education.

It is worth noting that in spite of COVID-19 pandemic, the University has proactively, flexibly adjusted its training and management plans and programmes, while preparing sufficient facilities and training equipment for online teaching and teaching. As a result, the University successfully fulfilled the education and training task in the school year of 2020-2021; 100% of cadets got pass, over 70% of them achieved merit, and over 17% of them earned distinction; 34.63% and 61.47% of cadets graduated with distinction and merit respectively; moreover, it organised the graduation ceremony and handed over 100% of military cadets to the Lao People’s Army.

The University has made investments in modern facilities and training equipment with the support from the Ministry of National Defence and the General Department of Politics. To that end, the University’s Party Committee has released the specialised Resolution 249-NQ/ĐU, dated January 27^th, 2021 on “building facilities towards a smart school” capable of approaching the 4^th industrial revolution. With its synchronous, practical solutions, the system of barracks, offices, classrooms (theoretical study rooms, rehearsal rooms, laboratories, audio-visual rooms and library) have been constructed on schedule in sync with modern teaching and learning equipment as the basis for improving the quality of education and training. Currently, the University continues to invest in its facilities and equipment in a practical, effective, safe, economical fashion.

Promoting the recorded results, the Military University of Culture and Arts will synchronously implement measures to deserve to be a top centre of the  Military for training cadres and employees in the cultural and artistic field and make significant contributions to building up troops’ cultural and mental life and bolstering the noble virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period.

Sr. Col. PHUNG THANH TIEN, Commissar of the University