In order to train high-quality human resources for the building of a “revolutionary, regular, elite, modern” Navy as the core force in the defence of national sacred sovereignty over seas and islands, the Naval Academy’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have been focusing all effort on modernisation of the school.

Grasping and executing the guidelines of the Party and particularly the Central Military Commission on raising the quality of cadres to meet the requirements set by the modernisation of the Military and the Homeland protection, in recent years, the Academy’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have drastically, comprehensively renewed education and training under the model of “smart school capable of approaching the 4^th industrial revolution,” thereby contributing to building a modern Navy and firmly protecting the Homeland’s sacred sovereignty over seas and islands.

It is worth noting that the Academy’s quality of education and training has been raised in a solid, stable manner. The rate of merit and distinction amongst graduates has increased by 5.48%, while the rate of graduates with the rank of Lieutenant has gone up by 4.15%. The Academy’s teams taking part in Army-wide and Nation-wide foreign language (English, Russian) and informatics Olympic Contests have won top prizes. Its contingent of instructors, educational managers, and scientists has been developed in terms of quantity, professional competence, teaching method, and work experience. The training contents, programmes, and methods have been drastically renewed in accordance with each group of learners, the training goal, and units’ task. Facilities and training equipment have been modernised synchronously. Importance has been attached to discipline management and military standard order building. Offices, cadet management units and faculties within the Academy have always been stable and safe and they have been rated as comprehensively strong, “exemplary, typical” units. Amidst the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Academy has adopted creative measures to overcome difficulties and fulfil its training plans. Graduates from the Academy have proved their political zeal, military professional competence, and good command of foreign languages and informatics. Basically, they have fulfilled their assigned task and shown their potential for future development.

Giving the certificate of recognition to the Academy’s elite teachers granted by the Ministry of National Defence

Currently, the trend of international integration in the sphere of education and the rapid development of science and technology are greatly impacting on the training work of the Military and the Academy. To creatively, effectively apply resolutions and directives by the Party, the State, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence on raising the quality of education and training in the new situation as well as the Resolutions of the Naval Party Congress and the Academy’s Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure to the building of a “smart school,” the Academy will focus on implementing several basic measures and tasks as follows.

First of all, build and develop a pool of instructors and educational managers both quantitatively and qualitatively. This measure acts as a determinant to the Academy’s quality of education and training. Therefore, party committees and commands of offices, cadet management units, and faculties should grasp and realise the goals, requirements, and roadmap for building and developing a contingent of instructors and managerial cadres set by the Academy’s Party Committee and Board of Directors in accordance with their particularities and assigned task. Various measures should be employed to improve the quality of instructors and educational managers. Due attention should be paid to closely combining full-time, in-service training courses with the deployment of cadres to study overseas in order to standardise the Academy’s pool of instructors and cadres and make them capable of performing the tasks of teaching, management, and research. Significance should be attached to achieving the rate of masters and doctors to satisfy the criteria for a “smart, modern school” and practically serve the education and training work in the new situation. In addition to training instructors and educational managers, it is vital to properly use cadres and implement a preferential treatment policy for them. In this regard, priority should be given to cadres with high academic degrees, pure morality, good knowledge, scientific working method, and great experience. Besides, it is essential to deploy cadres and instructors to hold different positions across the Military so that they could improve their leading and commanding method and broaden their hands-on experience to serve the teaching work.

Second, continue achieving a breakthrough in renewing the training contents, programmes, and methods to meet the requirements set by units’ training and combat readiness. Adhering to the direction from the Ministry of National Defence and the Navy as well as the guidance from the Department of Schools under the General Staff, the Academy has adjusted its training contents and programmes. More specifically, it has reduced the duration of theoretical subjects and increased practice in accordance with each group of learners. Great value has been attached to equipping cadets with the knowledge of non-traditional security challenges, international law, and methods of fighting to defend seas and islands and mastering modern weapons and technical equipment to meet the requirements set by units’ training and combat readiness in accordance with the development of the Navy’s art of warfare and our opponents’ new forms of warfare. Additionally, consideration should be given to closely managing the training contents and programmes, updating new knowledge, effectively applying training viewpoints, principles, and connections, and sharing combat experience of the Military and the Navy with cadets in order to improve their political zeal, commanding style, and tactical knowledge. Offices, faculties, and cadet management units should concentrate on renewing the teaching method, encouraging learners’ creativity, and reviewing the education and training work to find out weaknesses and draw lessons as the basis for adjusting the training contents, programmes and methods in the following periods. Furthermore, emphasis should be placed on renewing the training procedure in a scientific and inter-connected manner and making it relevant to the military environment and the country’s general training goal and requirements. In the upcoming time, diploma from the Academy shall reach national, regional and international standards. Moreover, the Academy will foster international cooperation in the training area, enhance the quality of training Cambodian cadets, and effectively work with foreign experts to provide foreign language training courses for its cadets.

Third, attach importance to raising the quality of military entrance university examination and testing. The Academy will closely cooperate with relevant offices and units in enhancing propagation, vocational guidance, and enrolment consultancy, while diversifying measures to improve the quality of military entrance university examinations. In the short term, emphasis should be placed on strictly maintaining the regulations by the State, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of National Defence on the work of military entrance university examination in 2021 and ensuring the approved targets. Due regard should be paid to seriously organising examinations for postgraduate courses under the regulations in order to contribute to boosting the Academy’s quality of education and training. At the same time, it is essential to renew the contents and forms of tests to correctly evaluate learners’ knowledge and skills. In this regard, greater importance should be attached to organising more multiple-choice tests and using the bank of exam questions.

While building a smart school, the Academy will attach great value to applying information technology and using pieces of software to design exam questions so as to enhance the quality, objectivity, and accuracy of learners’ results of study. It will organise computer-based entrance and graduation foreign language examinations. Besides, it will closely manage exam questions and answers and stringently maintain the regulations on semester and entrance examination for all groups of learners. It will enhance military standard order building and discipline management, while strictly implementing the regulations on examination to ensure the quality of education and training. Besides, it will render its instructors, cadres, and cadets fully aware of circulars and guiding documents by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of National Defence on training quality assurance. Doing so will enable the Academy to stringently maintain its statutes on the work of training quality assurance within itself.

Fourth, effectively apply scientific and technological achievements to ensuring facilities and equipment for training. Facilities and equipment serve as an important prerequisite for applying the achievements of the 4^th industrial revolution to the process of education and training. Hence, in 2021 and upcoming years, the Academy will focus on both upgrading facilities and acquiring new equipment for its education and training work with the budget allocated by higher echelons. In the medium term, priority will be given to upgrading specialised and simulation classrooms and laboratories to meet the requirements set by the modern teaching and learning process and scientific researches. The Academy will concentrate on digitalising data, designing common lectures, modernising training equipment in an integrated, systematic, synchronous fashion, and bringing into play state-of-the-art weapons and technical equipment to the utmost for teaching and learning. Moreover, it will place emphasis on making investments in facilities for foreign language and physical training at cadet management units, while providing logistics support for external affairs and international cooperation in training. In the long term, it will comprehensively, synchronously foster the modernisation process in other fields to train high-quality human resources as part of the modernisation of the Navy and the Military, making contributions to firmly protecting the national sacred sovereignty over seas and islands.

Rear Admiral, Associate Prof. NGUYEN VAN LAM, PhD, Commandant of the Academy