Fully aware of the importance of emulation, over the years, the Political Academy has always taken creative, practical measures for well conducting the Determination to Win Emulation Movement which has given it an incentive to build a pure, strong Party Organization and a standard, advanced, exemplary Academy.

Being imbued with Ho Chi Minh’s teachings on patriotic emulation and grasping resolutions by the Party and the Central Military Commission on the emulation and commendation work and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, the Political Academy’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have always focused their leadership and direction on this important task. Accordingly, all activities of the Academy have been aimed at the emulation movement and it has adopted breakthrough measures for performing central, difficult, complex missions and improving the quality of education and training via the emulation movement. Following Uncle Ho’s teachings: “everyone emulates, every sector emulates, we will certainly defeat the enemy,” with the practical, effective measures in accordance with the particularities of each office and unit, the emulation movement has become a motivation for raising the Academy’s task performance and creating the synergy for it to successfully fulfil all assigned tasks. In 2016, it was given the First-Class Military Exploit Order by the State; in 5 consecutive years (2014-2018), it was presented with the Flag of Leading Unit in the Military’s emulation movement by the Prime Minister and leaders of the Ministry of National Defence.

Graduate exercise by regimental and divisional level cadets

Amidst the complex developments of the global and regional situation, especially at sea, the Academy’s emulation movement has been aimed at raising the quality of introducing, studying, and executing the Party’s directives and resolutions, completing the programs for political and legal education, improving its staff members’ political zeal, ethics, and lifestyle, maintaining political orientation in all activities of the Academy, and particularly developing, completing, and strictly implementing the regulations relating to its missions. At the same time, it has actively prevented and combated “peaceful evolution” and the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” thereby contributing to defending and developing Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology and building up its staff members’ motivation and determination. Currently, all offices and units of the Academy are rated politically strong; it achieves a sense of unity within itself and harmoniously manages relationships, especially those between learners and teachers as the basis for it to successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

The emulation movement has also been aimed at building strong party organizations politically, ideologically, organizationally and morally, directly encouraging a sense of proactiveness and creativity to implement the measures for building strong, pure party organizations and comprehensively strong offices and units, and closely combining the building of party committees with that of key cadres, instructors, and scientists. The Academy has aligned the emulation movement with the execution of the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05 on “studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle,” the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers,” and the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification. Besides, its youth union, women’s union, and trade union have promoted their role in encouraging their cadres and members to successfully performing the tasks, thereby contributing to making the Academy’s Party Organization pure and strong. 100% of the Academy’s cadres, instructors, cadets, employees, and soldiers have actively joined the campaigns, namely “the Military joins hands in building new countryside,” “the Military joins hands for the poor - no one left behind,” and “clever mass mobilization” with practical, specific deeds. Doing so has helped the Academy to cement its relationships with localities.

Art performance at the conference to honour and reward typical examples in the execution of the Central Military Commission Standing Board’s Directive 788

Notably, the Determination to Win Emulation Movement has contributed to creating a motivation for everyone to successfully fulfil the central political task. The emulation and commendation work and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement have directly effectuated a vibrant emulation atmosphere and helped well conduct the movement of “good teaching, learning, scientific research, working, and service” and implement two breakthrough measures, namely “transforming from topics-based teaching to special topics-based teaching and improving the quality of lectures” and “stepping up fundamental researches and raising the quality of grass-roots level scientific researches to meet the requirements for a reform in education and training.” A focus has been placed on building and realizing training models, targets, programs, and procedures in a standard, modern manner and building a contingent of political cadres, commissars, and instructors of military social sciences and humanities with sufficient qualities and capabilities to be in charge of political affairs at all units within the Military. When a large number of cadres and instructors have been dispatched to grass-roots level units, competent offices and faculties have adopted creative measures and approaches and brought into play forces and organizations’ proactiveness in education, training, and scientific research to the utmost. The movement of “good learning and training” at the cadet management units has been actively carried out, with emphasis placed on building up cadets’ motivation and responsibility as well as their political zeal and personalities to become political cadres under Uncle Ho’s teachings: “learning to work, learning to become cadres, and learning to serve the Homeland and the people.” As a result, the quality of self-study and self-research has been raised; the training and education regulations have been strictly maintained; cadets’ study and self-improvement results have always reached and exceeded the targets. The movement of “good scientific research” has been aimed at raising the Academy’s quality of training and education, taking part in the fight against wrong viewpoints and the defence of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, and the Party’s ideological ground, thereby contributing to thwarting the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and their plots to incite “depoliticization” of our Military. In the process, the Academy has always closely combined basic research with applied research, and aligned theoretical study with reality reviewing. Consideration has been given to improving the quality of fundamental researches (2018) and enhancing the effectiveness of compiling textbooks (in 2019). The Academy has stepped up scientific activities, organizing scientific workshops, compiling history books and documents for the fight on the ideological and theoretical front. Consequently, the Academy’s quality and effectiveness of scientific research has unceasingly improved and contributed to defending Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, and the Party’s guidelines.

To achieve all targets of the emulation movement, the Academy has directed offices and units to focus on standard order building and discipline management as the basis for making a positive change in the observance of the State’s law, the Military’s discipline, and the Academy’s regulations. Offices and units have actively renewed and raised the quality of personnel, weapon, equipment, and facility management. At the same time, the Academy has been active in administrative reform and especially clearly assigned function and task to each office and unit. Cadres and instructors’ working method and style have been renewed in a democratic and scientific way. Information technology has been applied to the work of direction, management and operation.

Moreover, offices and units have synchronously executed the movements, namely “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings,” “practising thrift, fighting against corruption and wastefulness, building units,” and “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment in an effective, sustainable, safe, economical manner and traffic safety,” as well as the models, namely “youth’s garage,” “exemplary depot” and “five-good military medical unit”, thereby enhancing the quality of logistics and technical support for the Academy’s regular and unscheduled missions.

To meet the requirements for protecting the Homeland in the new situation and especially for making the Military politically strong, the Political Academy will continue taking the measures synchronously for stepping up the Determination to Win Emulation Movement to make contributions to raising the quality of education, training, and scientific research and building a strong Party Organization politically, ideologically, organizationally, and morally and a standard, advanced, exemplary Academy to deserve to be a top centre for training political cadres and conducting researches on military social sciences and humanities within the Military and the country.

Maj. Gen., Associate Prof. Nguyen Van Bao, PhD

Rector of the Academy