Over the past years, the Ministry of Education and Training has thoroughly grasped directives and resolutions of the Party and the State on defence and security education, implemented them through flexible guidelines and measures that are relevant to the Ministry’s functions and tasks, and achieved considerable outcomes. The Ministry has worked with other Central ministries and sectors to give advice to the Government and issue normative legal documents facilitating the implementation of defence and security education for students. System of defence centres and faculties at universities has  been built and consolidated. The work of training defence instructors staff has been strengthened. The content of subject has been gradually standardized, more appropriate to reality. The quality and the efficiency of defence education has been increasingly enhanced.  Every year, more than 90% of students has been trained Defence and Security subject with encouraging results. That has also made contributions to training human resources of all-around calibre for the cause of Homeland construction and protection.

Integration and education renovation trend is now happening drastically. The cause of national construction and protection is imposing new higher requirements and conducted in both advantageous and disadvantageous conditions. Hostile forces are stepping up their “Peaceful evolution” strategy against the Vietnamese revolution with wicked plots and tricks. Vietnamese students are their top aim. Thus, innovation of education and training in general, and defence and security education and training in particular, is an indispensable and urgent demand. Seriously grasping the Resolution 29-NQ/TW of the 11th Party Central Committee, Ministry of Education and Training is determined to make fundamental and massive change in the quality and the effectiveness of defence and security education. In this regard, the Ministry has adopted measures synchronously, focusing on the followings.

First, strengthening the leadership and direction of Party committees and education managers over defence and security education. In this regard, the Ministry of Education and Training has directed local education and training management organs and education establishments nationwide to continue grasping directives, resolutions and documents of the Party and the State on defence and security education, especially guidelines and viewpoints mentioned in the Resolution 29-NQ/TW. Accordingly, it is necessary to strengthen the leadership and direction over the task of defence and security education, continue to make education managers, teachers and student full aware of their task and raise their responsibility. The Department of Defence Education continues to promote its key role in guiding and directing defence and security education. Notably, it should study and give advice to the Ministry to concretize the goal of innovation of defence and security education in accordance with the strategy to develop education and reality.

Second, further standardizing defence and security instructors staff. This is an important measure to innovate defence and security education. The Ministry continues to direct the planning and training of defence and security instructors so as to standardize this staff at all learning levels and branches. By 2020, it aims at satisfying 90% of demand for teachers for high schools and 70% of demand for instructors for vocational training schools, colleges and universities.

Third, actively adjusting, supplementing and perfecting contents and curriculum of defence and security education; renovating the teaching - learning method. The Ministry of Education and Training has directed functional organs and worked with other relevant ministries and sectors, on the basis of goals and requirements of the subject at each learning levels, to adjust and make the contents and curriculum more appropriate to students’ major. To be in line with modern warfare, the Ministry has directed building up new curriculum for groups of major and training areas, such as technology, natural sciences, social and humanitarian sciences in accordance with operation and speciality of army services, arms, combined arms, the development of military science and art, and the  modernization of the People’s Army and the People’s Public Security in the new situation.

Fourth, mobilizing resources for facilities and learning-teaching equipment to meet the requirements set by the task of innovating defence and security education. To enhance the efficiency of this work, the whole Ministry should effectively manage and use the allocated budget. Also, it should actively mobilize resources legally to upgrade teaching-learning equipment, particularly the system of specialized classrooms and training grounds. The Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with the Ministry of National Defence should promulgate a circular on the list of teaching-learning equipment serving the subject of defence and security education at high schools, vocational training schools and universities.

To successfully implement the measures mentioned above, there should be participation of the entire society, with the Ministry of Education and Training as the core force. In the time to come, the Ministry of Education and Training will continue to further renovate defence and security education for students, making contributions to fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training, and building the human resources of high calibre to meet the requirements set by the cause of national construction and protection.

Major General, People’s Teacher Nguyen Thien Minh, PhD

Director of the Department of Defence Education, Ministry of Education and Training