Ha Giang is a northernmost mountainous border province of Vietnam with rich natural resources, a large number of ethnic minority people, and a global geopark. Thus, the province holds a position of strategic importance in socio-economic and defence-security terms to Military Region 2 and the whole country. Over the years, thanks to investments from the Government and efforts made by the province’s Party Organisation, authorities, and citizens, the province’s socio-economic development has been facilitated, while the people’s material and mental life has been gradually improved. However, due to its rough terrains and harsh climate conditions, Ha Giang is still a poor province with a slow economic growth rate; a section of citizens are faced with a lot of difficulties in their daily life. Currently, the province’s political security and social order and safety are basically stabilised; however, there exist destabilising factors. Hostile forces are taking advantage of the issues on ethnicity, religion, democracy, and human rights to incite ethnic minority people’s free migration, conduct illegal missionary work, and undermine the great national unity block. Trafficking in women and children, trade frauds, and illegal border crossing continue to be on the rise. The complex developments of COVID-19 greatly negatively impact on Ha Giang’s socio-economic and cultural development and defence-security consolidation. Being fully aware of those difficulties and the province’s particularities, the Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the Provincial Military Command (PMC) have advised the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee to focus their leadership and direction on military-defence work, including defence and security education as the basis for building a strong all-people national defence and a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds,” maintaining political security, and ensuring social order and safety.

First of all, the province has grasped and disseminated directives, resolutions, and legal documents on defence and security education, particularly the 10th Politburo’s Directive 12-CT/TW, dated May 3rd, 2007 on “enhancing the Party’s leadership over defence and security education in the new situation,” the Law on Defence and Security Education, the Government’s Decree 139/2020/NĐ-CP, dated November 27th, 2020 on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 13/2014/NĐ-CP on detailed regulations and measures for executing the Law on Defence and Security Education as well as plans and guiding documents by Military Region 2’s Defence and Security Education Council. It has directed its committees, departments, sectors, unions, and localities to step up the work of propagation and dissemination during conferences and refresher courses to raise cadres, party members, and citizens’ awareness and responsibility for defence-security task. Doing so has helped achieve a consensus and promote synergy created by the entire political system and people in defence and security education.

Additionally, the province has frequently consolidated and improved all-level Defence and Security Education Councils. As the Standing Agency of the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council, the PMC has given advice on consolidating all-level Defence and Security Education Councils both qualitatively and quantitatively, assigning tasks to each council member, and developing those councils’ statutes, particularly after party congresses and elections of deputies to all-level people’s councils. At the same time, it has promulgated guiding documents on annual defence and security education relevant to localities’ particularities. It has proactively cooperated with the province’s committees, departments, sectors, and unions in grasping the number of attendees at defence and security education courses, developing plans of education for each group of learners, inspecting each locality and unit’s education process, and opportunely rectifying shortcomings to keep raising the quality of this important work.

Cadres from the 3rd group practise shooting K54 pistols during a defence and security education course

As Ha Giang is a mountainous province with a poor traffic system and a large number of cadres who have to attend defence and security education courses, the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council has proactively advised the province on decentralising the work of defence and security education under regulations and creating a favourable condition for cadres to both fully participate in training courses and well perform their task. Under that policy, the province has summoned and deployed cadres from the 1st and 2nd groups to attend defence and security education courses held by higher echelons, while organising courses for cadres from the 3rd group at Regiment 887 (under the PMC) and directing its districts and cities to launch courses for cadres and party members from the 4th group according to clusters of communes. To improve the effectiveness of this work, the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council has selected cadres with great knowledge and experience as teachers of defence and security education, established managements of classes, and ensured accommodations for learners during courses.

In addition to the number of learners under regulations, the province has required all-level defence and security education councils to provide knowledge of defence and security for more citizens. To that end, emphasis has been placed on training cadres and public servants working at the border and border gates, border householders, journalists, war veterans, owners of enterprises and factories, educational managers, teachers at secondary and high schools, youth union members, young people, village patriarchs, heads of clans, persons with great prestige within residential areas, and religious dignitaries. The Provincial Defence and Security Education Council has directed the Provincial Political Training School and district-level political training centres to actively, proactively include defence and security education in their economic, political, and professional training courses at elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. Since 2018, the province has deployed 66 cadres from the 1st and 2nd groups to attend defence and security education courses held by Military Region 2, while organising 21 courses for 2,581 cadres from the 3rd group, 410 courses for more than 30,000 cadres and party members from the 4th group, and 10 courses for 612 village patriarchs, heads of clans, persons with great prestige within residential areas, and religious dignitaries. It has also provided knowledge of defence and security for nearly 36,200 learners at the Provincial Political Training School and district-level political training centres.

The Provincial Defence and Security Education Council has paid due attention to defence and security education for pupils and students. It has proactively dealt with a dearth of teachers of defence and security education by deploying teachers to attend short-term refresher courses and cooperating with all-level military offices in training teachers. On a yearly basis, it has directed districts and cities to hold refresher courses on contents, programmes, and methods of defence and security education subject for teachers from schools. Doing so has helped improve teachers’ knowledge and experience and greatly contributed to raising the quality of this subject. Since 2018, the PMC has worked with the Provincial Department of Education and Training to advise the Provincial People’s Committee on deploying 73 teachers to attend short-term training courses and providing defence and security education for more than 51,700 pupils and students; nearly 70% of those pupils and students have achieved merit or distinction in this subject.

In the Homeland protection cause, Vi Xuyen was one of the most intense fronts. This is a perfect destination for educating learners on national tradition and Vi Xuyen Soldiers’ indomitable spirit. Thus, the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council has directed the province’s localities, departments, committees, sectors, unions, and especially education and training facilities to organise visits to Vi Xuyen Martyrs’ Cemetery to educate young generations on national tradition and revolutionary morality, heighten vigilance amongst them, and encourage them to actively participate in military and public security service and register at military and public security schools for the Homeland construction and protection.

At present, there are 19 ethnic groups within Ha Giang province (the Mong people account for 34.6% of the population), with differences in the people’s educational background. Therefore, the province has attached importance to renewing contents and forms of disseminating knowledge of defence and security for all people. All-level Defence and Security Education Councils have cooperated with all-level Propaganda and Education Commissions, Fatherland Fronts, Veterans’ Associations, Women’s Unions, and Youth Unions in actively raising the quality of oral propagation and including propagation work in ethnic minority groups’ festivals. At the same time, due attention has been paid to directing localities to regularly organise refresher courses for rapporteurs to improve the effectiveness of propagation work and cooperate with the Provincial Radio and Television Station and Ha Giang Newspaper in setting up specialised pages and columns on all-people national defence to raise the people’s awareness of the building of the all-people national defence, the postures of all-people national defence and people’s security, and defensive zones as well as to unmask hostile forces’ plots and artifices. Doing so has contributed to increasing the people’s revolutionary vigilance and cementing a sense of unity amongst the people for the successful fulfilment of the two strategic tasks of national construction and protection in the new situation. Besides, the province has concentrated on promoting the role of village patriarchs and persons with great prestige in encouraging the people to take part in protecting borderlines, border markers, territorial sovereignty, and national border security.

Under all-level party committees, authorities, and defence and security education councils’ drastic leadership and direction together with the entire political system’s great determination to surmount all difficulties, Ha Giang’s defence and security education work has produced practical outcomes as an important basis for building an increasingly strong all-people national defence and firmly protecting every sacred inch of land in the Homeland’s frontier area.

Sr. Col. LAI TIEN GIANG, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board

Commander of the PMC, Permanent Deputy Chairman of the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council