On implementing the Party’s strategic policies on building the staff of cadres in general, the military cadres in particular in the new situation, the Logistics Academy needs continually reforming the education and training to build the military logisticians with high quality and comprehensive skills to work in the international environment, meeting the demands of international integration and building the revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled and modernised Military.

Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW, dated 19 May 2018 by the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) on attentively building the staff of all-level cadres, the strategic-level cadres in particular, who have had enough quality, skills, prestige and on a par with the tasks has aimed to have 20% - 30% of leading cadres and military commanders who are able to work in the international environment to 2030. Advancing this target and basing on the thorough grasp of Resolution No. 109-NQ/QUTW, dated 11 February 2019 by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on building the staff of military cadres, especially those at operational and strategic levels to meet the task requirements in the new situation, in the past few years, the Logistics Academy has issued many guidelines and solutions for enhancing the education, training and improving the quality of the logistics human resources in order to meet the demands of the Military building and international integration. This could be seen in the effectiveness of the renovation of the training contents and programmes, teaching methods toward the modernisation and integration connected with building the output standards; the approach of modern science and technology, the promotion of digital transformation in education and training of the Academy. The coordination, exchanges, learning, experience sharing and attendance of scientific conferences, dialogues of logistics with some countries have been promoted, through which, to diversify the defence diplomacy and learn from the experience of education and training to improve the knowledge and skills of working in the international environment for cadres and cadets.

Beside the achieved results, the target of educating the military logisticians  to be capable of working in the international environment remains some drawbacks. There have not been regular conditions for learning, training, and exchanging knowledge to foreign armed forces through defence diplomacy activities. Some standards of building the military logisticians  have hardly been reached or evaluated, especially the foreign languages and task-solving capabilities. Though the education contents and programmes have been reformed, they have not been regularly updated; some contents relating to the logistics tasks have yet to catch up with the current development.

In coming years, in the context that the international integration has been drastically taking place, the task of building the Military and safeguarding the Fatherland has seen new developments, setting vital demands for educating, training and building the staff of cadres in general, the military logisticians  with high qualities and skills to work in the international environment in particular. To achieve this target, the Logistics Academy has continuously grasped and seriously implemented Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022 by the CMC on reforming the education and training to meet the demands of building the Military in the new situation, focusing on some main contents as follows:

Firstly, strengthening the leadership and direction on reforming the education and training of the staff of military logisticians  who are able to work in the international environment. The party committees in the whole Academy have attentively grasped and educated organisations and forces to fully understand the resolutions and directions by the CMC, the Ministry of National Defence, especially the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress; Resolution No. 109-NQ/QUTW; Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW and the Projects on: Building the staff of teachers and educational managers; Reforming the training principle and programmes for all-level cadres in the Military to meet the demands of the task requirements in the new situation. On that basis, the party committees, commands, functional offices and staff of all-level cadres, the leading cadres in particular should bring into play their roles, responsibility, skills of leadership and management with high political determination to well implement the guidelines and solutions for improving the cadres’ education and training quality. In the implementation, it is necessary to define and well carry out the breakthrough of “reforming the education models, targets, contents and programmes for logistics cadres towards the standardisation and modernity”; creatively apply it into the conditions and context of the Academy to improve the quality of education, exercises and training for logistics cadres, meeting the task demands for working in the current international environment.

Secondly, continuously reforming the education, training contents and methods from the focus of transferring knowledge to the cadets’ comprehensive development of ability and quality being practical with the reality. Accordingly, the Academy has focused on building the training principles and programmes for military logisticians  in the scientific, basic, practical, comprehensive and modern manner in order to well carry out the task of training the logisticians with proper knowledge on a par with their positions. The Academy should pay attention to adjusting the contents, shortening the time for theories, increasing the time for practice, internship, etc., ensuring the continuity and inheritance among school levels and the requirements for education development; firmly repaired the content spread and duplication in all schooling levels, especially the ones for educating regiment or division-level logisticians. Especially, the Academy has proactively updated and selected new ideas of military and defence tasks, international integration, logistics reality in units and high-quality training programmes to be the training contents, at the same time, continuously reformed the methods of teaching and learning, tests, examinations and assessment to be suitable with each learner and module; closely combined the in-position education with the educational attainment, and the knowledge of military sciences and logistics; bring into play the  activeness, creativity, thinking and actions capability, and the practical skills among cadets.

Thirdly, renovating and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the education management; attentively improving the quality of staff of teachers, education managers and scientific staff. The Academy should build the education management office with proper strength, relevant structure and high quality which has capability of advising, directing and guiding the tasks of education and training; enhance the application of information technology and modern scientific advances into the digital transformation and administrative reform to improve the effectiveness of managing the cadets, education and training; reform the ways of testing, examinations and assessment; promote the real teaching, learning and assessment of the cadets’ learning; prevent the credit-driven phenomena in education and training; standardise the conditions and improve the system of training support, evaluation of education and training; pay attention to the planning, combining the building of the leading cadres with the staff of party committee members and the leading scientific cadres; build the plans on sourcing, selecting and completing the staff of teachers, scientific officers for each field, making sure the continuous and firm development; implement the planning, directions to use cadres according to their striving targets, at the same time, attentively diversify the sources; flexibly and strictly apply the methods of selection, education and training for cadres; actively standardise the staff of teachers, scientific and managing officers; create the favourable conditions to encourage cadres to self-study, self-train and self-improve the all-round knowledge to meet the increasingly higher requirements of the tasks.

Fourthly, strengthening the activities of international integration combined with building and completing the standards for the military logisticians to work in the international environment. Basing on the thorough understanding of Resolution No. 806-NQ/QUTW, dated 31 December 2013 by the CMC on the international integration and defence diplomacy to 2020 and the following years, the Academy should proactively build the plans and send delegations of cadres and teachers to learn, research, attend scientific conferences and exchange experience with some foreign armed forces in the world, at the same time, proactively research and issue the systems of standards to evaluate and select cadres and teachers to join the delegations to foreign countries. These systems should ensure the comprehensiveness of the cadres’ and teachers’ political spirit, knowledge, skills, culture, especially the foreign languages and the skills of practical activities. The Academy should direct offices and units to concretise the standards of selection in the leading resolutions at all levels connected to the task execution of each collective and individual; evaluate the task results of each cadre and teacher after they finish working in the international environment. Regarding the foreign languages, the Academy should make research and surveys to adjust the goals, supplement the suitable solutions to the fact of teaching, learning and the need to work in the international environment of cadres and teachers. In details, teachers in specialised faculties should attain the IELTS 5.0 overall band score and above; foreign language teachers must reach C1 of the CEFR or level 5/6 of the VSTEP (Vietnamese Standardised Test of English Proficiency).

Fifthly, enhancing the investment for the construction, exploitation and effective use of the training materials and facilities in the modern and intelligent way. The Academy should effectively carry out the plans on intensely investing into facilities of training and scientific research, making sure the synchronicity, unity, quality and effectiveness; mobilise the budget resources to modernise the facilities and equipment for the training operation and management, teaching activities and scientific research including the centre of training management, training fields and grounds, specially-used classrooms, labs and other modern teaching tools; enhance the construction progress of the approved projects, supplement and complete the systems of infrastructure and IT facilities, build the simulation centre towards the synchronicity and modernity, continually implement projects of e-libraries, digitalisation of textbooks and documents, develop the commonly-used database on the military data transmission network, etc. in order to continuously improve the quality of education and training of the Academy in the new period.

The task of educating and training military logisticians  who have enough capability of working in the international environment appears to be vital at present and in the long run. The Logistics Academy needs to successfully implement this task in order to deserve to be the leading training centre of military logisticians  of the Military, practically contributing to the construction of the Logistics Branch and the revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled and gradually modernised Army.

Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. PHAN TUNG SON, Rector of the Academy