Deeply aware of the position, significance, and importance of national defense and military work at the Central ministries and branches, the Party Committee and leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) have been synchronously and drastically implementing multiple solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of the work, contributing to successfully implementing two strategic tasks of Fatherland construction and protection.

The Ministry of Education and Training is a governmental agency to perform the function of state management of education and training. Over the past years, based on thoroughly grasping the Party's national defense and military viewpoints and lines, the Ministry Party Committee and leaders have paid attention to leading and directing agencies, units, and educational and training establishments to well perform  the national defense and military work and achieved several important results. Notably, the military commands of agencies, units, educational and training establishments under the Ministry have well promoted their core role in advising and organizing the performance of the national defense and military work under the objectives and requirements set out. Along with that, the Ministry has cooperated closely with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security in fostering of national defense and security knowledge for subjects. As a result, the awareness of officials, Party members, lecturers, teachers, and students on national defense and military tasks and protection of the Fatherland has been constantly improved. The self-defense force in the whole sector has been perfected its organization and staffing to ensure an increasingly reasonable quantity and increasingly high quality, serving as a core in performing the national defense and military work and contributing to building the all-people national defense, maintaining political security and social order and safety at agencies, units, and educational and training establishments, and coordinating in timely and effective handling of situations occurred in the localities.

To further improve the quality of the Ministry's national defense and military work, in the coming time, the Ministry Party Committee and leadership, especially the Military Command and the Department of National Defense and Security Education, have focused on directing provincial-level Education and Training Departments, national defense and security education centers, institutes, universities, and colleges under the Ministry to well perform a number of the main contents as follows:

Firstly, to promote the core role of military commanders at all levels in advising, deploying, and organizing the implementation of the national defense and military work. Accordingly, the Ministry directs its attached focal points to concentrate on consolidating fifty military commands at agencies, units, and provincial departments of education and training to ensure the correct and sufficient structure and components; strictly maintaining working regulations and regimes, especially briefings and reporting upon circumstances; and assigning and decentralizing responsibilities to members. On that basis, to promote the core role of military commands at all levels in advising leaders of agencies and units in elaborating and promulgating documents, including resolutions, directives, programs, and plans to lead, guide, and direct the performance of the national defense and military work, suitable to the practical situation, of which the focus is to build strong agencies and units in all aspects and perform the tasks of education and training in association with the construction of defensive areas, military activities, and national defense and security work. In addition, the Ministry's Military Command regularly cooperates closely with the Department of Personnel and General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army to well select graduates to train in reserve officer courses and assign quotas to the universities.

The closing ceremony of a defence and security course held by MOET

Secondly, to well perform the education and fostering of national defense and security knowledge for the subjects. This is identified as a key task in the national defense and military work of the Ministry. With a variety of subjects of national defense and security education that is diversified and implemented at different levels. Therefore, the number of participants is up to millions across the country, with many diverse and complex components from ministry leaders and agencies to officials, lecturers, teachers, and students. The content of national defense and security education for students is chaired by the Ministry of Education and Training with the participation of central agencies and ministries, such as the Central Council for National Defense and Security Education, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, Government Office, etc. In particular, to focus on educating the Party's views and lines, the State's policies and laws on the task of building and defending the Fatherland; fostering communist ideals, ethical qualities, and traditional histories against foreign aggression of the nation, of the people's armed forces, updating sea and island sovereignty knowledge, new contents related to awareness and skills of national defense, military, and security knowledge, especially laws, decrees, circulars, guidelines on national defense and security, etc. To well performs this key task, the Department of Defense and Security Education advises the Ministry's leaders to focus on directing the provincial Departments of Education and Training to organize the strict and complete implementation of the legal documents and regulations on national defense and security education; to strengthen procurement of teaching equipment and implement teaching according to the program distribution. At the same time, to continue to recruit teachers who have not met the standard for training in second-diploma courses on national defense and security education under the Decision No.607/QĐ-TTg issued on April 24^th, 2014 by the Prime Minister. To coordinate with agencies and units under the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security in organizing training courses on contents and programs of national defense and security education and organize contests for defense and security education lecturers and teachers from schools nationwide. Along with defense and security education for students, the Ministry directs agencies and subordinate units to well perform the work of fostering defense and security knowledge for officials, lecturers, and teachers for the whole sector to archive annual completion rate of 100% as prescribed.

Finally, to focus on improving the quality of training, combat readiness, building of a strong self-defense force, capable of fulfilling the assigned task. With the total number of nearly two thousand people, the Ministry's self-defense force stations all over the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government. To build the force with a reasonable and high-quality structure and composition, especially political quality, the Ministry's Military Command, based on the Militia and Self-Defense Force Law and the guidance of the Department of Militia and Self-Defense Force, the General Staff Department, directs the military commands of agencies under the Ministry to proactively review, consolidate, and strengthen the payroll organization and scale of the self-defense force, focusing on improving the overall quality, qualifications, combat readiness, and combat service and coordinate with other forces in the localities to protect the agencies, units, and educational and training establishments in all situations. To do that, the military commands at all levels coordinates with the local military agencies to well organize the contents of training, drills, and military contests as planned, ensuring 100% of the self-defense force having high proficiency in using weapons and support instruments on the payroll as well as understanding the plan to coordinate with forces in the localities in dealing with defense and security situations; at the same time, to strictly maintain the order and direct regime as prescribed, ensuring the safety of agencies, units, and educational and training establishments. In addition, military commanders at all levels have advised with leaders of agencies, units, and educational and training establishments to pay attention and strictly maintain regimes and policies for the self-defense force.

Major General, Ph.D. PHAM DUC TU, Director of Department of National Defense and Security Education, Deputy Commander of the Ministry of Education and Training Military Command