Mu Cang Chai is a mountainous and remote district of Yen Bai province and among the 56 poor districts of the country. For the past years, under the leadership of the Party, the management of the authorities at all levels, its socio- economic and cultural situations have seen progresses; its defence and security have been strengthened; its political security, social safety and order have been maintained; the living standards of ethnic minorities have been increasingly improved. However, the district still remains a poor one with low economic growth rate. The awareness of a number of cadres, people, particularly ethnic people of defence and security remains low. In recent years, the district has brought into play its favourable natural advantages to foster tourist and service development, hence attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. Yet, there emerge some risks threatening social stability and safety. Crimes and social evils are evolving with complications. Facing the situation, the District’s Party Committee and People’s Committee have paid attention to leading and directing the implementation of the defence and security education and building a firm spiritual and political ground for socio-economic development.

The closing ceremony of a defence and education training course

Strengthening the leadership and direction of party committees and authorities at all echelons over the work of defence and security education has always been considered a focal and regular task by the District. Grasping and implementing the Directive No. 12-CT/TW of the Politburo (IX tenure) on strengthening the Party’s leadership over defence and security education, the Law on Defence and Security Education, plans and instructions of the MR2 and Yen Bai Province’s Council for Defence and Security Education, the District’s Party Committee has issued a number of directives and resolutions for unifying the leadership and directing the synchronous implementation from district to grassroots. Besides, the District also pays attention to consolidating and enhancing the operation of the Council for Defence and Security Education at all levels; promoting the key role of the District Military Command in coordinating, advising and implementing. Annually, basing on the plans and instructions of the upper echelons, it builds plan for defence and security education, then proposes to the Province for approval and considers this as basis for the implementation of its junior levels. For the past years, the accomplishment of defence and security education has been considered as a criteria for promotion of cadres by the District, as ruled in the Regulation No. 07-QĐ/BTCTW of the Central Organisational Commission. At the same time, it has also thoroughly conducted the checking and reviewing work at all levels. Thereby, it has engaged the participation of the whole political system,; promoted the responsibility of cadres in implementing the work and made it increasingly regular and effective.

The standing office of the District’s Party Committee has required its affiliates to focus on holding defence and security training courses for its cadres and party members. Annually, the District directed the Council for defence and security education at all levels to screen and grasp the number of learners for making plans of training. As a mountainous and remote district with unfavourable terrain and disruptive communication roads, in order to fulfill the plan assigned by the upper echelons and make it easy for participants, the District has diversified the models of education in which training courses have been held for class-4 object who are grassroots cadres and party members for every group of communes. The class-4 objects who are cadres and party members working in the administrative offices are trained at the District’s Centre for Political Training. The class-4 objects who are teachers and educational staff are trained in summer vacations in combination with their professional training courses. In order for training to be effective, the District’s Council for Defence and Security Education has selected the appropriate cadres who are working in military, public sector and other sectoral offices of the District as trainers of specific topics; actively renewed methods and regularly updated the socio-economic, defence and security situations of the locality to make the lectures relevant to reality.

 As the district is situated on highland with over 96% of its people are ethnic minorities in which more than 91% are Hmong people, its Party Committee, People’s Council and People’s Committee have paid attention to leading and directing the dissemination of defence and security knowledge to heads of villages, clans and prestigious people in the communities in order to promote their exemplary role in observing, disseminating and persuading other people to obey the Party’s guidelines and viewpoints, the State’s policies and laws, and gradually get rid of evil customs, not to follow the words of bad guys and illegal religions, etc. Since 1998 to date, the District has sent 17 cadres of class-2 and class-3 to the MR2 and Province’s training courses; held 8 course for over 640 cadres and party members of class-4 and over 90 heads of villages and clans with good results. In the coming time, the District plans to build  and implement the Project of “Promoting the role of heads of clans and prestigious people in the communities” and implement the model of “Self-manage clan”. Together with directing and instructing the villages to select their own prestigious people, the District will continue to foster defence and security knowledge for these people in order to further promote their role in public activities.

Defence and security education for students in the locality has been paid due attention so as to equip them with a sense of Fatherland protection even when they are still at their high schools. Accordingly, the District’s Council for Defence and Security Education has directed its high school to seriously adhere to the regulations and instructions on conducting defence and security education for students. At the same time, the District has directed its Military Command and Public Security force to send their officers to assist the school and supply the material for the school in teaching, testing and evaluating the result of the subject. The school has strived to improve the quality of the subject; proactively involved in the defence festivals held by upper level. Annual tests have seen 100% of the students satisfying the requirements, with 65% to 70% gaining good and excellent results.

The dissemination of defence and security knowledge to the entire people has been conducted on a regular basis and in a vivid and creative manner matching the customs and habit of ethnic minorities. In particular, the District has promoted the role of its Communications and Culture Centre in dissemination on the radio system in both Vietnamese and Mong language. The content of dissemination is mainly about the Party’s lines and State’s laws; local defence work; the situation of social safety and security; the subversive plots and schemes of hostile forces in undermining the solidarity among races by taking use of racial and religious matters. To counter and prevent the illegal religious practices, the District has directed its political system, especially local armed forces, militia and self defence forces, public security to thoroughly carry out public relations work and implement the model of “Weekend with the people” in order to grasp the situation, stay close to the people to disseminate, persuade, and opportunely discover and prevent the signs of illegal religious practices, while curbing the “flashpoint” in rural security, assisting the people in socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, building the grassroots political system and contributing to maintaining political security, social safety and order in the locality.

On the other hand, the District has also paid attention to building the contingent of disseminators with priority given to the ethnic minorities as the key force in the dissemination of defence and security knowledge. The model of dissemination has also been diversified, thereby gradually improving people’s awareness and sense of observance of laws and maintaining security and safety in the locality.

With the synchronous implementation of the above measures, defence and security education in the Mu Cang Chai district has gained encouraging achievements, contributing to building the all people’s national defence, the all people defence posture associated with people’s security posture and the “people’s heart and mind posture” increasingly strong, maintaining political security, social safety and order for the District’s sustainable growth.

Nong Viet Yen, Member of the Yen Bai Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the District Party Committee