Defence and security education is an important strategy of the Party and a prime content in building the strong all people’s national defence. Fully aware of this, over the past years, Quynh Phu District (Thai Binh Province) has paid much attention to this work with creative and synchronous measures, hence gaining positive results.

Quynh Phu District is located in the Northeast of Thai Binh Province with an area of over 20,900 hectares including 2 towns and 35 communes and a population of 241,660 people. The province is the gateway of Thai Binh Province to the focal economic region of Hanoi – Hai Duong – Hai Phong – Quang Ninh, hence of multi-faceted importance, especially in economic, defence and security fields. Recently, its socio-economic situation has seen steady growth; people’s living standards have been unceasingly improved, and its social safety and order, defence and security have been strengthened. In October 2019, it was recognized as a standardized new rural district. These encouraging achievements are attributed to several measures in which defence and security education has been thoroughly implemented, contributing to the enhancement of the awareness and responsibility of its cadres, party members and people of the mission of Fatherland protection and building political and mental potentials, the firm “people’s heart and mind posture” for the fast and sustainable development of the district.

First, the District promotes the core role of its military command in consulting the party committee and authority in leading and directing this important work. As a permanent office of the District’s Council for defence and security education, annually, basing on the upper level’s documents regarding defence and security education, grasping the defence and military tasks and the situation of the locality, its Military Command propose to the District Party Committee the Resolution on leading the work, and advise the People’s Committee to issue relating directives, resolutions, plans in a comprehensive, unified and synchronous manner to create a legal corridor for implementation. In particular, it has paid attention to consolidating and enhancing the structure and quality of the council for defence and security education while regularly supplementing and perfecting operative regulations to make it relevant to reality and meet the increasingly high requirements of the defence and security tasks of the locality. Thereby, for the past years, its Council for defence and security education has seen smooth and effective operations with innovative and suitable measures.

The 2019 local military conference held by Quynh Phu District

Together with consultation work, the Military Command of the District, particularly the standing office of its Council for defence and security education has regularly had renewals in the dissemination of defence and security knowledge for all subjects. Implementing the goal that 100% of its cadres are to be equipped with defence and security knowledge, every year, the District Military Command coordinate with its sectors, branches and localities to screen and list the subjects entitled to defence and security education in accordance with the Law on Defence and security education and the Decree No. 13/2014/NĐ-CP of the Government. Subsequently, it advises to the Council for defence and security education of the District to build suitable and highly feasible plan for implementation. Together with sending Class-2 and Class-3 subjects to training courses held by the province and the Military Region 3, the District has also held its own courses. In the 2016 – 2019 period, it always fulfilled its plans, thereby as many as 165 cadres of Class-2 and Class-3 and 6000 trainees of Class-4 have completed the courses with high quality.

Facing the new requirements of the Fatherland protection mission and the situation of the locality, the work of defence and security education should be regularly renewed and updated with the latest information. Therefore, basing on the compulsory programs, contents and materials, the District Military Command coordinates closely with functional organs to study, adjust and supplement new contents and renew methods and models of education to suit the subjects. At the same time, it has regularly held field trips for trainees to attend the defensive area exercises of the district and communes. As a result, its trainees have grasped the contents and methods of operating the mechanism in defence and military operations of the defensive areas, contributing to enhancing the awareness, responsibility and capability in managing and operating defence and military work at grassroots level.

In the renewal of defence and security education for students, the District Military Command has coordinated closely with the District’s Department of Education and Training and to direct the Thai Binh Agricultural Secondary School and the high schools of the district to implement this work thoroughly. Prior to each academic year, teachers of defence and security education are trained and updated with both knowledge and teaching method. To eliminate the shortage of teachers, the District Military Command proposes to send some teachers to study second major in defence and security and attend other training courses to fill in the gaps and standardize the defence and security teaching staff.

Besides the compulsory contents, the District also directs to hold defence and military contests on a periodical basis to stimulate student’s spirit and review the teaching and learning of this subject to make it more effective. In addition, the District has also directed its schools to hold field trips to historical relics, guest talk of the nation’s war history, etc. in order to enrich student’s defence and security knowledge. Thereby, in the 2016 – 2019 period, there have been 31,000 students of the Districts being equipped with necessary military skills and knowledge. Their personalities, patriotism, responsibility for military service have also been nurtured, too. They have also become more active in the local defence and military operations.

The dissemination of defence and security knowledge for all people has also been paid due attention by the district. The standing office of the Council for defence and security education has coordinated with the District Party Committee’s Propagation Commission and radio to conduct intensive propagation throughout the district with diverse and suitable methods. In particular, propagation has been integrated into the ceremonies, celebrations and the propagation campaigns of the seas and islands of the Navy. As a locality with the majority of its population is farmers, together with propagation on its radio systems, the District also includes daily agricultural news at suitable time of the day so that it reaches as many people as possible. Propagation focuses on the Party’s lines and State’s laws and policies governing defence and security; the peaceful evolution spots and schemes, hostile argument of disruptive forces, negative bahaviours and wrongdoings in society; the commendation of achievements and role models in local defence and military work and in the movement of protecting Fatherland security of the mass, etc. With an average of around 340 pieces of news and articles broadcast on the District’s Radio and thousands of articles on the radios of communes and towns, propagation has contributed greatly to the enhancement of awareness and responsibility of its people for implementing defence and security tasks.

Besides education and propagation, the District has also directed its junior party committees, authorities, unions and armed forces to stick to people listen to their thoughts and soon have settlement of emerging issues from the grassroots level. At the same time, it has also offered preferential policies and provided assistance to help people develop production, improve their life, hence generating high consensus between the authority and people, strengthening the potentials and posture, especially the “people’s heart and mind posture” as a momentum for the fast and sustainable development of the District.

Colonel Tran Dang Vieng, Commander of the District's Military Command