Building a corps of lecturers and education management cadres is a key matter. On understanding this importance, military schools need to take comprehensive measures to promote virtues and expertise of the corps of education management cadres in line with the requirement and task of basically and comprehensively reforming education and training.

Education management cadres at military academies and officer training colleges (thereinafter referred to as military schools) are responsible for management of officer cadets and make vital contribution to education and training quality. Consequently, over the past few years, military schools have deeply grasped resolutions, laws, and regulations of the Party, State, Central Military Commission (CMC), Ministry of National Defence (MND), and party committees at all levels on education and training, especially the Education and Training Development Strategy for the 2011-2020 period. Over the past 10 years, military schools have held 125 training courses in teaching methodologies, foreign languages, information technology, and quality assurance in education and training for 9,345 lecturers and education management cadres; sent 2,251 lecturers and education management cadres on fact finding trips to units, and so on. Thus, the military has cultivated a corps of education management cadres with sufficient quantity, political steadfastness, fine dignity, sense of responsibility, suitable skills and expertise, pedagogic skills, ability to conduct scientific research, realistic experience, levels of foreign languages and information technology in accordance with standardisation demand. Nevertheless, the cultivation and standardisation of the corps of lecturers and education management cadres have yet to meet requirements, undermining quality of cadre education and training.

Currently, the tasks of basically fulfilling reorganisation of the military in an adept, lean, highly efficient direction by 2025; building a revolutionary, regular, highly skilled, and gradually modernised military with some services, arms, and forces advancing straight to modernity by 2030; and striving to build a modernised military from 2030 onwards have laid down high requirements for cadre training. Additionally, basic, comprehensive reform of education and training and the building of “smart schools capable of approaching the Fourth Industrial Revolution” require synchronous adoption of measures to build schools and enhance education and training quality, notably cultivation of a corps of education management cadres.

First, it is necessary to thoroughly grasp resolutions and directives of the Party, CMC, and NMD on education, training, and cadre work, most notably Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress, the project on “Improving capacity of the corps of lecturers and management cadres at institutions of higher education to meet the requirement for basically, comprehensively reforming education and training in the 2019-2020 timeframe” according to Decision No. 89/QD-TTg, dated 18 January 2019, of the Prime Minister on directions, goals, missions, and measures to promote education and training in the military till 2030 and beyond, the Project on building a corps of lecturers and education management cadres capable of meeting demand of basically, comprehensively reforming education and training in the military in the 2020-2030 period, and so forth. This serves to raise awareness of party committees and commanders of departments, units, and schools about this task and enables them to work out effective training measures, plans, and programmes. Inspection, supervision, preliminary summing-up, and summation are also to be carried out to draw experience from improving quality of education management cadres, striving to make all lecturers and education management cadres at military academies and officer training colleges reach standards as required by 2030.

Second, training content for education management cadres must be comprehensive but focus on training cadres according to their work practices. This is a piece of experience drawn from the process of implementing the Education and Training Development Strategy in the Military for the 2011-2020 period, thus requiring selection of content suitable to types of learners. Apart from further training in professional skills and expertise, education management cadres need to be equipped with Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, resolutions of party committees at all levels, directives and orders of their higher echelons, State law, rules and regulations education and training of schools, and scientific knowledge of education and training management. They should also be provided with soft skills, social knowledge, experience in leadership and management, skills in conducting party work and political work, grasping, and dealing with ideological evolution of cadets; techniques, tactics, foreign languages, and information technology; ability to synthesise and propose ideas as well as capacity to collaborate and coordinate with departments and faculties to organise and carry out education and training. Education management cadres must be able to supplement and promote quality of subjects, including State management, economic management, and law, developments of technological science, military art, and digital technology as well as practical matters.

Third, flexible application of further training methods, matching theory with practice, taking practice as the key. Cultivation of education management cadres should be grounded on practical requirements, subjects of management, objectives and demands of education and training reform, characteristics and requirements for cadres’ professions and academic standard, which lays the foundation for military schools to decide appropriate training methods. Apart from strengthening leaders’ and commanders’ education towards management cadres, each cadre must give priority to self-study, regarding this as a practical, effective method. Besides, further training for education management cadres can be conducted through short courses, competitions for excellent education management cadres, realities of education management, maintenance of good order and discipline, visiting leaders, commanders, and experience lecturers, sending cadres to hold command, management positions in units, and so on.

Fourth, fostering and sharpening revolutionary morality of education management cadres. “Revolutionary soldiers must be ethical men. Without ethics, they will be unable to lead people no matter how gifted they are,” said President Ho Chi Minh. Education management cadres at military schools are those who live with, work with, and have significant influence on shaping officer cadets’ dignity. Currently, due to negative effects of the market economy, a number of cadres and party members have shown deterioration in morality and lifestyle. Therefore, attention should be paid to cultivating education management cadres’ virtues of dignity, especially those are directly involved in managing, educating, and instructing officer cadets, making them truly prominent examples in every aspect. To successfully accomplish this task requires further good implementation of Directive No. 05-CT/TW, dated 15 May 2016, of the Politburo (12^th tenure), Directive No. 87-CT/QUTW, dated 8 July 2016, of the CMC’s Standing Committee on stepping up studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style in connection with the campaign: “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers in the new era”, Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) on Party building, the Determination-to-Win movement, movements, and campaigns at all levels and sectors. These are practical measures to enable each cadre to “reflect upon themselves,” “self-correct,” and train themselves in order to improve their political steadfastness, virtues of dignity, and lifestyle as well as prevent manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.”

Fifth, successfully carrying out policies on enhancing material, spiritual life of the corps of education management cadres to make them keep their minds on their work. Accordingly, it is necessary to study and advise the CMC and MND to further reform, supplement, and perfect preferential policies towards education management cadres, particularly promotion issue; attach importance to ensuring good material, spiritual life and working conditions; and attract cadres with formal training, competence, and practical experience to the corps of education management cadres. There also needs to well implement emulation, praise and reward and multiply excellent collectives and individuals, effective models and methods, and prominent examples in education management.

The above-mentioned solutions are a unified, perfect whole, which will contribute to improving quality of the corps of education management cadres and successfully completing the task of educating and training military cadres today if they are adopted actively.

Master Can Thanh Son, Political Academy, Ministry of National Defence