Increased reform of education and training in the Military is the deep grasp and concretisation of the Party’s guidelines and resolutions of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Ministry of National Defence (MND) on education and training, most notably Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW. Accordingly, units in the entire Military, especially military colleges, need to adopt drastic, synchronous, effective solutions, which aims to make breakthroughs in education and training quality in order to meet requirements of building the Military in the new situation.

On implementing the Party’s strategy for reforming and developing education and training, over the past few years, education and training in the Military have witnessed significant developments with outstanding achievements. The entire Military has seriously grasped and realised the Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW, dated November 4th, 2013 of the Party Central Committee (11th tenure), resolutions, directives, projects, plans, and action programmes of the CMC and MND on education and training. The system of military schools and colleges is improved in every aspect and gradually integrates into national and international systems. Reform and enhancement of education and training are carried out in the direction of standardisation and modernisation. The processes, programmes, and content are regularly reformed to ensure that they closely follow the practice of Military building, strengthening of national defence and security, and protection of the Fatherland. The corps of lecturers and education management cadres is built and developed comprehensively with increasingly high quality. Military units and colleges have actively renewed their teaching and learning methodology and applied scientific, technological achievements and modern teaching equipment to the teaching process. Prestige of military colleges is increasingly recognised. These outcomes have made vital contribution to development of human resources and enhancement of comprehensive quality and combat power of the military.

In addition to the above-mentioned results, there remain some limitations in education and training in the Military. Some aspects have failed to keep pace with development trends and mission requirements. The training procedures and processes for some types of learners are not appropriate. Reform of teaching methodologies is sometimes slow and lacks synchronicity in some places. Some lecturers and education managers are not qualified enough for the assigned goals and requirements. These limitations not only have direct influence on outcomes of education and training but also on quality of military cadres in the future. Consequently, the abovementioned issues deserve serious, thorough assessment, which aims to identify causes and find timely remedies for the limitations.

Lt. Gen. Nguyen Doan Anh visits the College of Cryptography

In the coming time, international, regional situation is likely to witness many rapid, complex developments. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, especially developments of digital technology, will bring about breakthroughs in all fields of the social life, including education and training. The entire Military is implementing Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW of the Politburo on organising the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in the 2021 – 2030 period and beyond. Accordingly, the VPA will be built in a fundamentally elite, compact, and potent direction by 2025, which provide solid foundation for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern Military by 2030. Therefore, to step up reform of education and training to meet requirements of building the VPA in the new situation, it is necessary to focus on the following solutions.

First, party committees and commanders at all echelons must strengthen leadership and direction with a view to creating breakthroughs in reforming education and training. Party committees and commanders of military units and colleges must deeply grasp Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW of the Politburo as well as resolutions and directives of the Party, CMC, and MND, most notably Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW, dated December 20th, 2022 of the CMC on reforming education and training to meet requirements of building the military in the new situation. They must regard this as a pressing demand and important political task, which aims to develop high-quality human resources for building the VPA into modernity. Accordingly, it is necessary to lead learners’ further grasp of missions and enhanced responsibility; promptly review, adjust, supplement, develop, and issue action plans and programmes in order to bring about a leap in education and training.

Functional departments of the MND, especially the Department of Military Schools, need to closely follow realities in order to advise the CMC, MND, and the General Staff to lead and direct units and colleges to conduct reform. In the short run, it is necessary to successfully carry out themed resolutions, action plans and programs, and Plan No. 450/KH-BQP, dated February 20th, 2023 of the MND. Units and colleges promote their leadership of education and training; work out optimal solutions in line with their missions; continue to realise the motto “Training quality of colleges is combat readiness of units”; proactively struggle against conservatism, self-satisfaction, obsession with achievements, and boilerplate in the reform process.

Second, further drastic reform of training processes, programs, and content and teaching and learning methodologies. These are fundamental measures, which are key to education, training reform and training quality of military colleges. Over the past few years, although we have recorded important achievements, they are not on a par with development requirements of the VPA and practical developments of the mission to safeguard the Fatherland. Therefore, departments, units, and colleges should improve their leadership capacity to have breakthroughs in training processes, programmes, and content as well as teaching and learning methodologies. Colleges are to closely follow the project of “Reforming training processes and programmes for cadres at all level in the military to meet requirements in the new situation”; concentrate on developing and standardising training programmes and expected learning outcomes for learners according to training goals and demands. They are also to review and improve training content and programmes, drafts of subjects and modules to deliver expected learning outcomes for learners and match realities in units; closely follow developments of weapon systems, equipment, military science and art, the goal of building an elite, compact, potent military advancing towards modernity, and new requirements of the digital era. There is a need to update the training content and programmes with new developments in the fields of military, national defence, and protection of the Fatherland.

Units and colleges continue to enhance reform of teaching and learning methodologies in a modern direction; attach importance to exchange and sharing of experience in teaching and learning methodologies as well as conduct of extracurricular activities and competition, thereby improving organisational methods and skills of lecturers, teachers, and learners. Specifically, they need to step up carrying out the project of “Establishing the information technology system for digital transformation in education and training”; adopt measures to optimise teaching and learning processes; enhance application of information technology, simulation technology, and digital transformation; closely combine reform of teaching methodologies and learning methodologies, turning the training process into a self-training process; continue to renew methods to deliver tests, examinations, and assessment, ensuring substantive teaching, substantive learning, substantive assessment, and opposition to obsession with achievements and wrongdoings in education and training.

Third, increased strengthening of the college system in connection with building and developing the corps of teachers and education management cadres on a par with mission requirements. The corps of teachers and education management cadres is key to education and training quality. Therefore, colleges should make more efforts than ever to strengthen and develop the corps of teachers and education management cadres with sufficient quantity, synchronous structures, ages, and majors, standardised quality, and appropriate reserve. To do so, the entire military must closely follow direction of the CMC and MND; accelerate strengthening of the college system to ensure that military colleges are adept, compact, effective, and suitable for building the VPA in the new situation. In the short run, there is a need to formulate and successfully implement projects on merging, dissolving, and upgrading some colleges according to Plan No. 1228/KH-BQP, dated April 25th, 2022 of the MND on carrying out Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW of the CMC on organising the VPA in the 2021 – 2030 period and beyond.

In the new context, military colleges should realise the project “Building the corps of teachers and education management cadres in the VPA in the 2023 – 2030 period” promptly. During the implementation process, there is a need to plan and construct the contingent of cadres, closely combine training with using and promoting cadres, improve the material, spiritual life of teachers and education management cadres, and adopt preferential policies towards them. Attention should be paid to construction of a corps of teachers who are highly qualified, have scientific titles, and are good teachers, excellent teachers, and people’s teachers. It is necessary to promote training to improve pedagogic skills and methodologies as well as competence in foreign languages and information technology for teachers. Every year and course, command post exercises are to be conducted in close connection with types of learners, which enables the corps of cadres and lecturers to associate theory with practice. Lecturers and education management cadres rotate around colleges and units with the aim of training and accumulating experience. Each lecturer and education management cadre must undertake self-training regularly to become prominent examples in morality, intelligence, and working method and style.

Fourth, enhanced education management and college administration; active mobilisation of resources for standardising and modernising infrastructure and equipment in support of teaching and learning. Colleges continue to improve quality of promoting good order and discipline; set up a cultural, military environment and a healthy, standard, pedagogic environment; and are in vanguard and serve as examples for units. Attention is paid to successful construction of comprehensively strong, “exemplary and representative” colleges, departments, faculties, and units in charge of cadet management. Functional departments of the MND grasp situations regularly and thoroughly to proactively propose amendment to normative documents in education, training, and military college work, which helps to achieve unity and suitability for characteristics, situations, and functions and missions of the VPA in the new situation as well as requirements of education reform. Priorities are given to improvement on the regulations governing managing and building military colleges according to the model, “Smart colleges approach the Fourth Industrial Revolution” in connection with setting up an electronic Government and striving for a digital Government in the MND.

First of all, it is important to step up progress in building some academies and officer training colleges into major ones in the VPA and on a par with the most leading national and regional colleges. Resources are to be mobilised for improving and modernising infrastructure and equipment in support of teaching and learning at colleges. In the context of limited resources, to promote effectiveness requires focused investment in modernising training grounds in accordance with modern weapon systems and equipment. Priorities are given to modernisation of information technology infrastructure, establishment of training centres, simulation centres, multipurpose classrooms, laboratories, and digital, electronic libraries. It is necessary to gradually concretise the goal of building military colleges as specified in the project, “Smart colleges approach the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

Education and training in the VPA are one of the core political missions of party committees and commanders at all echelons. Therefore, enhanced education and training reform becomes a great, urgent matter aimed to make a dramatic shift in the education process from knowledge delivery to comprehensive development of learners’ competence and dignity. Accordingly, departments, units, and colleges need to promote grasp of the Party’s directives and resolutions, most notably those of the CMC and MND as well as practical developments. They must continue to reform and make fundamental, comprehensive transformation in terms of education and training quality in the VPA, contributing to building a corps of cadres, who possess good political quality, morality, and capacity; “dare to think, dare to say, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, dare to reform, dare to confront difficulties and challenges, dare to act for common benefits”; successfully attain the objectives of building a “revolutionary, regular, elite, modern” military and firmly defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Lieutenant General NGUYEN DOAN ANH, Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Vietnam People’s Army