Thoroughly grasping guidelines and standpoints of the Party and State on national defence and security education for pupils and students, over the past few years, the National Defence and Security Education Centre under the 2nd Ha Noi National University of Education has attached special attention to leading and undertaking this crucial mission and recorded expedient achievements.

The National Defence and Security Education Centre under the 2nd Ha Noi National University of Education (thereinafter referred to as Centre) is tasked with conducting national defence and security education for pupils and students, training teachers of national defence and security, carrying out research into military, pedagogic sciences, advising and assisting the University Party Committee and University Board in performing military, national defence work. Over 20 years of building and development, generations of cadres, lecturers, and officials have united and surmounted difficulties to build strong organisations, improve working quality, and turn the Centre into one of the leading national defence and security education institutions of the country. The Centre has held 205 courses in national defence and security education and awarded certificates to nearly 300,000 students from 26 universities and colleges in Ha Noi City and the provinces of Vinh Phuc and Phu Tho. It has also opened 25 training courses for over 1,000 teachers of national defence and security and gained good outcomes. The Centre, therefore, has been awarded a Fatherland Defence Order, third-class, in 2009 by the State President, a Certificate of Satisfactory Progress in 2019 by the Prime Minister, and many other Certificates of Satisfactory Progress by the Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of National Defence, and the People's Committees of Ha Noi city and Vinh Phuc province.

Assoc Prof, Doctor Nguyen Quang Huy speaks at the conference on coordinatiion in defence and security education

In light of fundamental, comprehensive reforms in education and training according to Resolution 29-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee (tenure XI) and successful implementation of the Law on National Defence and Security Education, the University Party Committee, University Board, and Centre's Board of Managers advocate promoting investment in infrastructure, broadening the scope of training, and ceaselessly improving education and training quality with the aim of building the Centre into a prestigious address and a trustworthy destination in terms of national defence and security education for pupils and students as well as teachers of national defence and security. To achieve that goal, the University has been applying the following major solutions.

First, paying attention to strengthening the structure and organisation, investing in infrastructure, and widening the scale and scope of the Centre. The University requests the Centre to deeply perceive all the directives and legal documents regarding national defence and security education, especially the Directive 12-CT/TW, dated 3 May 2007, of the Politburo (tenure X) on "strengthening the Party's leadership over national defence and security education in the new situation," Law on National Defence and Security, plans and instructions of ministries and branches, etc., thereby making the Centre's corps of cadres, teachers, and staff well aware of the role and significance of national defence and security education for pupils and students, and their assigned tasks so as to enable them to have a firm grasp on their motivation and responsibility for this mission. Accordingly, the Centre focuses on establishing and perfecting its organisational structure, working out plans to develop its corps of cadres and teachers, clearly identifying the management mechanism and self-reliant mechanism for its operations, and building pure, strong Party organisations in connection with making the Centre comprehensively robust. Additionally, it is necessary to mobilise funds for capital construction investment to broaden the Centre's scale and scope, promote investment in material facilities and equipment, renovate the lecture halls, drill grounds, and improve its capacity to do tasks and successfully support education activities.

Second, enhancing standardisation of the corps of cadres and teachers. In order to standardise the corps of cadres and teachers in terms of expertise and pedagogic methodologies to enable them to meet the increasingly high demands of national defence and security education, the University attaches importance to the generation, planning, training, and use of the corps of cadres and teachers, and cultivates the Centre's corps of cadres and teachers with a high level of expertise, political steadfastness, professional ethics, and exemplary military style. To overcome insufficient teachers, the Centre collaborates with Ha Noi Capital Command to continue to select and recruit cadres and officers. In addition, it is requested to diversify the training form with the aim of improving comprehensive competence of its cadres and teachers, striving to have a corps of teachers with master's degrees and above by 2022.

Third, innovating the training content, programmes, and methodologies to enhance education and training quality. On the basis of the framework programme on national defence and security education for students and training teachers of national defence and security enacted by the University, the Centre steps up innovating its training content and programmes to suit students' training majors, update new issues concerning national defence and security, focus on key content, and allocate more time for practice so as to improve learners' military skills. As a result of specific characteristics of the subjects, the Centre directs its teachers to actively renew training methodologies to make them fit for content and type of students, and promote application of information technology and modern teaching equipment. Currently, 100 per cent of theoretical lessons is delivered via PowerPoint presentations, multimedia, and simulation of combat scenarios, techniques, tactics, shooting ranges, and national defence and security activities, creating vividity to arouse the learners' interest. Moreover, the Centre attaches importance to building a serious, disciplined teaching and learning environment, connecting knowledge cultivation with the training of students' military style, order and discipline as provided by military regulations and rules, strictly maintaining daily, weekly regimes, regularly organising sport activities and cultural events to create momentum for learning and training while promoting extracurricular activities to consolidate learners' knowledge, educate them in the combat tradition and history of previous generations, and foster their patriotism.

A tactical lesson at the Centre

Fourth, enhancing collaboration with partnership colleges and functional agencies to conduct national defence and security education for students. Every year, the Centre takes initiative in holding conferences on joint national defence and security education to grasp up-to-date policies, listen to opinion of partner colleges and universities so as to draw experience from teaching, learning and management processes, reach consensus on national defence and security education plans, assess feedback of students, who have finished their study and training at the Centre, and so on. Based on such grounds, the Centre develops its training plans, identifies clearly time slots for each college and university, and sends these plans and content to colleges and universities to facilitate students' awareness of training time and regulations prior their study at the Centre. During the training process, the Centre regularly collaborates and keeps in contact with partner colleges and universities to exchange school reports of all students with each other and resolve emerging problems. Furthermore, the Centre taps on support and assistance of local authorities, people, agencies, and military units in the area to establish solidarity, cohesion, and mutual support. Additionally, it is necessary to propagandise images and activities regarding national defence and security education with a view to attracting, maintaining and raising the number of students, contributing to establishing the Centre’s brand, prestige and status.

Making the most of outcomes and experience gained over the past 20 years of building and development, the National Defence and Security Education Centre under the 2nd Ha Noi National University of Education continues to reform, innovate, and tap on its overall power to establish a pedagogic, military environment, which is regular, exemplary, and friendly, deserving to be a trustworthy address and “cradle” for fostering young people’s patriotism to serve the cause of national defence.

Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Quang Huy, Secretary of the University Party Committee, President of the 2nd Ha Noi National University of Education, Director of the National Defence and Security Education Centre.