Over the years, the National Defence and Security Education Centre under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi has always placed emphasis on maintaining a linkage to provide national defence and security education for students from colleges and high schools in its area, thereby becoming a reliable destination for the youth’s experience.

Practising disassembling and assembling AK rifles

The National Defence and Security Education Centre under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi is assigned to establish a linkage to provide national defence and security education for students from 32 colleges and educational institutions according to the Joint Circular 123/2015/TTLT-BQP-BGDĐT-BLĐTBXH by the Ministry of National Defence (MND), the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs as well as the MND’s Decision 2320/QĐ-BQP, dated July 25^th, 2020. In recent years, the Centre has also provided national defence and security education for high school Hanoian students via the model of “national defence and security education week” and the “Military Skills” programme. To perform this task, the Centre has adopted various measures synchronously, properly.

First of all, the Centre has thoroughly grasped resolutions and directives by the Party and legal normative documents on national defence and security education, particularly the 10^th Politburo’s Directive 12-CT/TW on “enhancing the Party’s leadership over national defence and security education in the new situation,” the National Defence and Security Education Law, the Joint Circular 123/2015/TTLT-BQP-BGDĐT-BLĐTBXH, the Decision 2320/QĐ-BQP, and plans and guiding documents by the Hanoi Municipal National Defence and Security Education Council. Doing so has helped raise cadres, instructors, and employees’ awareness and responsibility. Due attention has been paid to complying with the regulations on national defence and security education linkage. In response to the task requirements and a large number of students from various majors, prior to each national defence and security education course, the Centre would hold a conference on national defence and security education linkage so that it could work with its partners to assess training cooperation and the quality of education in the previous year, discuss and reach an agreement on the training contents, programme and duration for the new school year, and collect feedback from students after their course at the Centre. Grounded on the results of such a Conference, the Centre would develop a school year plan, determine the timing for each partner, and deliver its plan and statutes to its partners to introduce to their students. In the process, the Centre has attached great importance to signing contracts with its partners, decentralising management, inspection, and investigation, and achieving a consensus with its partners.

National defence and security education is a particular subject. To satisfy the requirements set by education and training, the Centre has required its instructors to carefully enquire into their students so as to adopt proper teaching method attractive to learners. In recent years, the Centre has closely cooperated with its partners in grasping students’ capacity and awareness to apply methods of teaching and management properly, effectively to each group of learners and in discussing each student’s training results. To improve the quality of teaching, the Centre has implemented various measures for building and standardising a contingent of cadres and instructors with great ability and professional competence. It has collaborated with member colleges of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi in dispatching its cadres and instructors to attend postgraduate courses and launching methodology training courses, while sending its staff members to participate in refresher courses organised by the MoET to update new information relating to the subject. It is worth noting that after the issue of the Circular 05/2020/TT-BGDĐT, dated March 18^th, 2020 by the MoET on the national defence and security education programme within pedagogic colleges and university-level educational institutions, the Centre has proactively worked with its partners to develop and prepare syllabus, lesson plans, lectures, textbooks, and reference books relevant to each group of students and partners. In the training process, the Centre has attached significance to cooperating with its partners in organising extra-curricular activities, such as overnight training marches, cultural, artistic, and sports programme, camping, and “paying debt of gratitude” in order to improve students’ collective spirit, comradeship, discipline, sympathy, and unity. Doing has also helped students to be more confident and mature and live more responsibly for themselves, their families and the society. Moreover, the Centre has strictly carried out inspections and evaluations of the subject to ensure subjectivity, equality, and accuracy. At the same time, it has closely managed the issue of certificates to students under the regulations.

To facilitate students’ training and daily life and enhance the quality of training, the Centre has proactively worked with its partners to divide their students into companies, platoons, and squads, select students with good qualities, abilities, and prestige to be heads of companies and squads, and introduce the Centre’s statutes to students. Besides, the Centre has closely cooperated with its partners in well conducting the work of political education and grasping student’s ideology to settle the issues arising from students’ life, create a friendly atmosphere, and improve students’ activeness and self-awareness during the training process. Cooperation in taking students back to their colleges after training courses at the Centre has been closely maintained. As students are young and face a lot of difficulties in living far away from their families, the Centre has closely collaborated with their colleges and head teachers in managing and encouraging learners during courses.

 Furthermore, the Centre has actively mobilised higher echelons’ resources and its partners’ financial assistance to invest in facilities, teaching equipment, classrooms, accommodations, military supplies, textbooks, and documents for students. Due regard has been paid to constructing the system of tactical training grounds, shooting ranges, gyms, specialised classrooms, and signboards. It has frequently kept in touch with military units in the area to gain support from them when necessary. At present, the Centre is accelerating the building of an electronic library and upgrading the system of specialised classrooms, laboratories, and training equipment under the regulations set by the MoET for its cadres and instructors’ teaching and research as well as for its students’ learning and training. Additionally, it has worked with cadres, instructors, and students from its partners to inspect and supervise canteens, ensure food safety and hygiene, prevent and fight against epidemics, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the 2019-2020 school year, in spite of being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre has surmounted difficulties and cooperated with 20 universities and 6 high schools in Hanoi city and other adjacent provinces in providing national defence and security education for more than 22,600 students, which has been highly appreciated by its partners.

However, taking the linkage in national defence and security education into consideration over time, the Centre has realised that there have been several weaknesses and shortcomings in the training process. To be more specific, the contents and duration of the national defence and security education subject for college students have yet to be uniform. For example, national defence and security education for students from pedagogical colleges under the Circular 05/2020/TT-BGDĐT by the MoET includes 165 credits equivalent to 28 days, while students from colleges under the management of the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs experience a national defence and security education course that is worth 75 credits equivalent to 14 days under the Circular 10/2018/TT-BLĐTBXH, dated September 26^th, 2018 by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Moreover, the number of students according to the distributional regulations and the actual quantity are different from each other. In recent years, most of the colleges have not achieved their targets of enrolment; therefore, there has been a decrease in the number of students at the Centre on a yearly basis. Besides, for other reasons, a number of educational facilities have evaded dispatching their students to the Centre under the distributional regulations and they have even established a linkage in national defence and security education for their students improperly, thereby causing a waste of personnel and resources within centres. The management and issue of national defence and security education certificates have yet to be effective. Currently, students from pedagogical colleges who had completed their national defence and security education course have been given a certificate; however, students from colleges under the management of the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs have not been granted any certificate. Meanwhile, tuition fees at centres and colleges are not the same, which will lead to the commercialisation of this subject.

Those weaknesses and shortcomings have been causing difficulties for national defence and security education linkage set up by centres in general, the National Defence and Security Education Centre under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi in particular. Therefore, competent offices of the MND, the MoET, and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs should work towards remedial measures to ensure the quality and effectiveness of national defence and security education for students and make significant contributions to the Homeland construction and protection.

TRAN DANH LUC, PhD, Member of the Hanoi Municipal National Defence and Security Education Council, Director of the Centre