On December 24^th,1958, when visiting the Viet Bac Military Region’s Military-Political School (present-day Military Region 1’s Military School), President Ho Chi Minh said that “the whole School must teach and learn much better, maintain a close-knit bond with the ethnic minorities, and develop into an exemplary military school.” Over the past 60 years plus, Uncle Ho’s words have become the goal, guidelines, and motivation for cadres, instructors, cadets, employees, and soldiers of the Military Region 1’s Military School to overcome all difficulties and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks. In recent years, the School’s education and training task has witnessed developments with a rich diversity and large number of cadets while the training requirements have been increasingly high. Meanwhile, the School has faced a lack of cadres and instructors, the work of training management and operation has yet to be close, and its facilities and budget for training have been limited. With resolve to completely handle weaknesses and build itself into a comprehensively strong and really exemplary military school, the School’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have adhered to higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on the education and training work and synchronously, drastically adopted various measures for this work, with emphasis placed on effectively executing the Politburo’s Directive 05, realizing Uncle Ho’s teachings left for the School, and striving for “good teaching, learning, and working”.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Xuan Phong presenting learners from the 2nd group in the 101st defence-security education course with certificates of graduation

For the sake of good teaching, the School has focused on building a contingent of “both red and expert” cadres and instructors, strictly following the procedures for cadre recruitment, planning and use, and fostering the training and development of their comprehensive knowledge. The School has concentrated on overcoming weaknesses in its cadres and instructors’ capability and asked superior and experienced ones to train inferior and inexperienced ones. Moreover, while dispatching cadres and instructors to attend the refresher courses launched by the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region 1, the School has stringently maintained the order for on-the-spot training. Focuses of the training courses have been placed on introducing new knowledge, renewing the training method, preparing lesson plans and lectures, and settling weaknesses in teaching and examination. Besides, the School has proactively advised the Military Region 1 on sending its cadres and instructors to study at military academies and universities and work at military units to improve their knowledge and gain hands-on experiences. It has cooperated with Thai Nguyen University of Technology in holding many training courses on foreign languages and information technology for its cadres and instructors. In addition to enhancing its staff members’ professional competence, the School has fostered the management, training, and building of political zeal, working method, professional ethics, and lifestyle so that each cadre and instructor would be an example for cadets to follow. Up to now, 77.2% of its cadres and instructors have hold Bachelor’s Degree and postgraduate degree, and 37.6% of them have been recognized as good training cadres and instructors at all levels. This is an important human resource for the School’s task in both medium and long terms.

As most of the School’s cadets are ethnics with different levels of knowledge, it has attached importance to renewing the teaching-learning method. Its faculties have actively applied information and simulation technologies to teaching and flexibly employed forms and methods of teaching in accordance with each training program and group of cadets. The order for model teaching, teaching assessment, and contests for good managerial, training cadres and instructors at all levels has been closely, qualitatively maintained. At the same time, the School has renewed the work of training direction, management, and operation, with priority given to renewing the working thought and method and promoting the competent offices’ advisory role in formulating the training plans and programs for each group of cadets in a close, scientific, flexible fashion. It has enhanced the work of training inspection and investigation and conducted polls among cadets about their managerial cadres’ responsibility and their instructors’ professional competence and teaching method. Doing so has helped the School to draw lessons, opportunely rectify weaknesses and drawbacks, and increase the quality of management, training, and education.

For the sake of good learning, right after its cadets come to the School for study, it focuses on introducing the training task, goal, requirements, and regulations to each cadet, thereby helping them to build up the motivation for their study. Moreover, the School has directed its units to assign managerial cadres to stay close to and encourage cadets to overcome difficulties and to be self-aware in their study and training. Under the spirit of “all for beloved cadets,” during the teaching and training process, the School’s cadres and instructors have passed their experiences in combat and work, applied information technology, and helped cadets to revise and self-study. For cadets with bad training results, the School has organized supplementary training courses to ensure that they could master movements and improve their command method and style, while directing its units and managerial cadres to strictly maintain the order for further training these cadres and to promote their role as the “second instructors.” Moreover, the School has renewed the graduate exercises for its cadres in accordance with combat reality and the task of the Military Region 1’s armed forces so as to improve its cadets’ knowledge. It has dispatched cadets, who are trained to be battery chiefs, to do internship at specialized units and engaged cadets of local military major in the commune-level defensive exercises so that they could improve and align their knowledge with reality. As a section of cadets has problems with their fitness, the School has upgraded its training grounds and directed its battalions to increase military training marches, extra-curricular activities, and sports programs in days off and rest hours to build their fitness.

In order that its cadets after graduation could fufil their task according to the training goal, the School has adhered to military units’ training and combat reality to develop its training content and programs properly. To that end, the School has consulted managerial cadres, non-commissioned commanding officers, and technical staff members in the Military Region 1’s units about its training content and programs. Doing so has helped the School to supplement and adjust its training content and programs, remove unnecessary issues, reduce the duration for theory, increase the duration for practice, night-time training, and field training, and equip its cadets with teamwork and soft skills. Moreover, the School has advised the Military Region 1 on setting the criteria for cadets who would be trained to be non-commissioned commanding officers and technicians in accordance with each area’s particularities and the requirements for training units’ military human resources to perform their tasks.

To correctly assess the study results, the School has focused on reviewing and closely managing banks of exam questions and answers, uniformly executing the procedures for exams, tests, and graduate exams for each group of cadets, and closely managing the results of tests and exams under the regulations. As a result, the School’s training and education quality has been increasingly raised. On a yearly basis, 100% of its cadets are qualified for graduation, 72.9% of them graduate with distinction and credit, and especially 100% of learners from the 2^nd group in the defence-security education courses graduate with distinction and credit, which is highly appreciated by the Military Region 1.

For the sake of good working, the School has attached significance to making itself comprehensively strong, building military standard order, and creating a favourable condition for its staff members and cadets’ self-improvement. In addition to higher echelons’ investments in building facilities, the School has concentrated on renewing the working method and style, better introducing higher echelons’ directives, resolutions, and regulations on military standard order and discipline management, and effectively executing the model of “one article of law every week” so as to create a positive change in its cadres, instructors, cadets, employees, and soldiers’ responsibility and awareness. At the same time, it has strictly maintained the Regulations on Grass-Roots Level Democracy, the Political and Spiritual Day, the Legal Study Day, and the daily, weekly regulations, strengthened the work of discipline management, and organized sports and recreational activities in days off and rest hours. Moreover, it has established the military police teams to opportunely detect, prevent, and settle violations of discipline. Consequently, since 2018, there has been no serious violation of discipline within the School while the rate of trivial violations of discipline has been decreased by 0.2%.

Additionally, the School has well performed the logistics work for training and education, built the quotas for stationery, petroleum, ammunition, and explosives, installed teaching and learning equipment, and upgraded the system of classrooms and training grounds. It has also effectively conducted the emulation movement entitled “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings,” stepped up agricultural production, ensured food supply and hygiene, and improved the quality of troops’ meals. Besides, it has closely managed its weapons, technical equipment, and means for training and combat readiness, while strictly maintaining the order for materiel maintenance and repair.

By synchronously adopting measures, up to now, the Military Region 1’s Military School has completely settled its weaknesses and successfully fulfilled its assigned mission. In 2018, the School was given the Emulation Flag by the Ministry of National Defence. That outcome has provided an incentive for the School to continue better performing the education and training task and making itself comprehensively strong, regular, and exemplary as instructed by Uncle Ho.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Xuan Phong, Commandant of the School