Defence and security education plays an important role in raising the entire Party, Military, and people’s awareness and responsibility for building and defending the Socialist Vietnamese Fatherland, while directly contributing to consolidating the all-people national defence and the all-people national defence posture associated with the people’s security posture. In the new revolutionary period, the raised quality and effectiveness of this work become a matter of urgency.

In 2021, although COVID-19 pandemic directly impacted on socio-economic and cultural development, defence, security, and diplomacy, including defence and security education work, all-level party committees, authorities, heads of offices and organisations, and defence and security education councils (hereafter councils for short) drastically exercised their leadership and direction over defence and security education and obtained significant results. It should be noted that ministries, sectors, localities, and all-level councils grasped and seriously executed the Party’s directives and resolutions, the State’s laws, and the Central Council’s annual work plan to advise the Government to issue legal normative documents as the legal corridor for performing defence and security education work.

The Standing Agency of the Central Council opportunely proposed guidelines and measures for defence and security education nationwide. It cooperated with relevant competent offices in giving instructions on consolidating all-level councils after the 13^th National Party Congress and the Election of Deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure. It implemented defence and security education projects under statutory regulations in accordance with COVID-19 prevention and control. It proactively, actively organised defence and security education courses via creative, practical, effective forms and methods, thus making contributions to raising all-level cadres, party members, and leaders’ awareness and responsibility for defence-security tasks in the Fatherland construction and protection.

Ministries, sectors, localities, schools, and defence and security education centres provided sufficient defence and security education programmes for pupils and students, properly renewed teaching methods, and actively applied information technology to teaching and learning in accordance with COVID-19 prevention and control. Due regard was paid to improving knowledge of managerial cadres and teachers of defence and security education. Great value was attached to disseminating knowledge of defence and security to all people via diverse contents and forms relevant to each area and region’s particularities. Units of the Military, the Public Security Force, and the Militia and Self-Defence Force included the dissemination of knowledge of defence and security in COVID-19 prevention and control and mass mobilisation work.

In addition to those good results, state management work performed by several ministries, sectors, and localities was not fully promoted. Coordination between central and local offices to master the number of learners and classify learners was not close. Regulations on linkage of defence and security education between several education facilities were not stringently implemented. Facilities, particularly training grounds and equipment in several colleges and universities were not ensured under regulations. To deal with those above-mentioned weaknesses and continue raising the quality and effectiveness of defence and security education for the Fatherland construction and protection in the new situation, it is necessary to focus on well implementing a number of tasks and measures as follows.

First, strengthen leadership and direction of party committees, authorities, and heads of offices and organisations over defence and security education. To that end, it is important to grasp and seriously execute the Party’s directives and resolutions and the State’s laws on defence and security education, particularly the 10^th Politburo’s Directive 12-CT/TW, dated May 3^rd, 2007, the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, the Law on Defence and Security Education, and the Central Organisation Commission’s Regulations on standard knowledge of defence and security amongst cadres and party members. Grounded on those documents, due attention should be paid to encouraging the participation of the whole political system in defence and security education as a central task and a yardstick for evaluating all-level party organisations, authorities, and key cadres’ leadership and management capacity. Ministries, sectors, and localities should actively enhance state management and coordination efficiency of defence and security education, while frequently reviewing, supplementing, and implementing action plans/programmes for this work in accordance with their practical conditions.

Second, regularly consolidate all-level councils and their standing agencies, supplement their work regulations, and improve the quality and effectiveness of their operation. All-level councils’ standing agencies should frequently give advice to party committees and authorities at their levels on sufficiently staffing councils, developing and completing councils’ work regulations, and promoting each council member’ role and responsibility. Significance should be attached to improving coordination between offices, committees, sectors, and unions in defence and security education and giving instructions to offices and units on organising defence and security education courses for cadres, party members, and students as well as disseminating knowledge of defence and security amongst all people in accordance with COVID-19 prevention and control. At the same time, consideration should be given to inspecting offices, units, and localities’ performance of defence and security education work, opportunely multiplying typical examples and effective approaches, and rectifying shortcomings in this work.

Third, renew management and methods of defence and security education and guarantee principles in this work. Competent offices of ministries, sectors, and all-level councils should grasp and classify learners of defence and security education in order to design and execute plans of defence and security education under statutory regulations. Due regard should be paid to providing defence and security education for typical individuals and persons with great prestige within residential areas and for leaders serving two consecutive terms.

Education facilities and centres should observe regulations on linkage of defence and security education for students, ensure safe, flexible adaptation to and effective control over COVID-19 pandemic, and apply information technology to teaching and learning. Recently, due to the complex developments of COVID-19, education centres have cooperated with schools in organising online theoretical training courses for students to deal with part of the subject of defence and security education. In the upcoming time, education centres should grasp localities’ practical conditions to adopt proper measures. Education centres which are used as quarantine zones should continue providing online theoretical training courses and grasping degrees of COVID-19 within localities to work with schools to organise practical training courses and examinations. Education centres which are eligible for organising offline classes should intensify measures to manage and train students according to the military life and environment, while strictly complying with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control set by the Ministry of Health.

Central and local press agencies should proactively collaborate with competent offices in developing programmes and contents of dissemination of knowledge of defence and security amongst all people under Circular 38/2017/TT-BTTTT, dated December 13^th, 2017 by Minister of Information and Communications.

Fourth, make investments in facilities and technical equipment for defence and security education. Ministries, sectors, localities, and schools should keep investing in capital construction projects under Prime Minister’s Decision 161/QĐ-TTg, dated January 30^th, 2015 on approving the Planning of defence and security education centres in the period of 2015-2020 and beyond and Prime Minister’s Decision 1841/QĐ-TTg, dated November 18^th, 2020 on supplementing the Planning of defence and security education centres in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050. Moreover, due attention should be paid to upgrading defence and security education centres’ facilities, lecture halls, specialised classrooms, and training grounds. Colleges and universities which are allowed to autonomously teach the subject of defence and security education should acquire and supplement training materials, equipment, and aids, while upgrading their training grounds, lecture halls, and specialised classrooms under regulations. The Department of the Militia and Self-Defence Force should continue giving advice on executing the Project to “convert and disable level-5 AK rifles, and acquire equipment for practising shooting for the subject of defence and security education.” At the same time, it should cooperate with competent offices in designing and promulgating textbooks and documents of defence and security education for high schools, universities, and vocational training schools in order to make contributions to raising the quality of defence and security education and meet the requirements set by the Fatherland construction and protection in the new situation.

Maj. Gen. LUONG QUANG CUONG, Deputy Director of the Department of the Militia and Self-Defence Force