Over the years, the Tank - Armoured Officer College has successfully fulfilled its mission of training commanding and technical officers in tank - armoured speciality at university level for the whole Military. The College has also played an active role in scientific research and international cooperation, providing training for military cadets from the Lao People's Army and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. The College Party Committee and Managing Board have implemented comprehensive, synchronised policies and solutions, with a focus on promoting the "good teaching, good learning" movement. This movement has served as a source of motivation for cadres, lecturers, cadets, employees, and soldiers to overcome difficulties, take responsibility, and work collaboratively to improve the quality of education and training. For the academic year 2023-2024, all cadets passed their graduation exams, with over 82.74% achieving merit or distinction (a 2.22% increase compared to the 2022-2023 academic year). All graduates have basically successfully fulfilled their initial duties, contributing to developing a contingent of “both red and expert” military cadres and building an adept, compact, strong Tank - Armoured Corps towards modernity.

Cadets of the Tank - Armoured College during a lecture (photo: qdnd.vn)

To turn this movement into a routine task, the College Party Committee and Managing Board have focused on strengthening political education and ideological orientation, building up determination and proper motivation for emulation among all target individuals. Offices, faculties, and units have actively carried out education and propagation work to raise awareness among cadres, lecturers, and cadets towards the purpose, significance, contents, and requirements of the “good teaching, good learning” movement. Education and propagation work has also been aimed at rendering staff members cognisant of hardships and strains of tank and armoured vehicle driving training as well as negative impacts made by the market economy and social evils in the stationed area.

At the same time, the College has prioritised educating its staff on the Party's lines and the State’s policies on the reform and improvement of education and training. In the process, the College has introduced innovative methods of propagation and education, integrating them into various activities, such as the launch of emulation movements, meetings held by organisations, and the teaching of military social sciences and humanities.

Additionally, the College has effectively utilised its cultural institutions, web portal, and social media platforms like Zalo and Facebook to carry out propagation work and inspire the pride in the Tank - Armoured Force’s tradition of "Winning every battle”. The College has strictly maintained meetings, report regulations, reviews, and assessments of its education and training tasks at all levels, while promptly addressing and correcting any signs of misaligned awareness, misconduct, and formalism during the movement. As a result, cadres, lecturers, and cadets across the College have achieved notable improvements in their awareness and responsibility, showing their determination and incentive for emulation, overcoming all difficulties, accomplishing all contents and targets of emulation.

At present, more demanding requirements are being imposed on education and training; meanwhile, the training process and duration for certain groups of cadets at the College have yet to be proper, with an imbalanced proportion of knowledge areas within its curricula. To develop the "good teaching, good learning" movement in a focalised, effective, practical manner, the College Party Committee and Managing Board have directed the movement towards a comprehensive and synchronised reform in the procedures, programs, contents, and methods of teaching, learning, and quality assessment. To this end, offices and faculties have adhered to the project on “reforming training procedures and programs for military cadres to meet the task requirements in the new situation" and the motto "the training quality of schools signifies units’ combat readiness." They have taken personnel training, cultivation, and use into account to identify appropriate contents and targets of the movement, concentrating breakthroughs on addressing weaknesses in education, training, and scientific research.

In carrying out the movement, offices and faculties have collaborated with one another to reform the training process, with a focus on increasing practice, internship, and self-study for cadets, ensuring logical progression across subjects, semesters, academic years, and the entire program. Based on the framework approved and promulgated by the Ministry of National Defence, offices and faculties have reviewed and adjusted program outcome standards in line with the goals of their training programs and the entry requirements for higher levels of education. Special attention has been paid to streamlining and refining curricula in a comprehensive, practical, systematic, and gradually modernised fashion. The College has also focused on political and ideological education, the transmission of combat experience, the preservation of national and military traditions, and the core values of the Tank - Armoured Force. Furthermore, the College has placed emphasis on instilling moral qualities and a sense of responsibility into its cadets, improving their foreign language proficiency, information technology skills, physical fitness, and knowledge of state management, economics, society, and law, and practical skills. In the 2023 - 2024 academic year, the College successfully developed and reviewed two training programs at college level for staff and commanding officers and technical commanding officers in the tank - armoured speciality.

The “good teaching, good learning" movement at the College has been centred on modernising methods of teaching and studying to improve overall effectiveness. More specifically, offices, units, and faculties have fostered military democracy, encouraging learners’ self-awareness, creativity, and dynamism, combating rigid, one-size-fits-all approaches. They have consistently followed mottos, principles, and connections set for education and training, combining theory with practice, focusing on practical training as the primary method, aligning ideological education with practical skills training, maintaining discipline in training work. Faculties have actively renewed the contents and methods of training lecturers in professional competence, especially for new ones; importance has been attached to self-improvement, critical thinking, and collaboration capacity. Lecturers have been encouraged to inspire learners with passion for study, research, and self-improvement. The College's education management staff, referred to as "second teachers," have frequently grasped cadets’ needs and aspirations, giving cadets instructions on reviewing lessons, encouraging them to strive for “good learning, strict discipline”.

The College has actively renewed its testing, assessment, and evaluation methods, with due regard paid to involving cadets in the evaluation of educational activities and encouraging lecturers to provide feedback on educational management. Furthermore, the College has remained committed to the principle of "substantive teaching, substantive learning, substantive evaluation," “saying no to negative practices in exams and merit-driven disease in education and training”. As a result, the quality of education and training at the College has steadily improved. Graduates from the College have exhibited a more comprehensive balance of political qualities, revolutionary ethics, and professional competence, better meeting the requirements of their assignments.

Recognising the critical role of teachers and educational managers in the success of the "good teaching, good learning" movement, the College Party Committee and Managing Board have made a breakthrough in developing a stable, strong contingent of lecturers and educational managers. In alignment with the project on “building a pool of military teachers and educational managers to meet the requirements of a fundamental, comprehensive reform in education and training for 2021 - 2030”, the College has regularly reviewed and ensured a sufficient number of qualified lecturers and educational managers to fulfil all academic and management duties. The College has selected cadres with good professional skills and teaching methods for faculties, while providing them with opportunities to improve their professional competence, hands-on experience, and skills, including their commands of foreign languages and information technology. To standardise its faculties, the College has placed emphasis on training its teaching staff through workshops, academic seminars, research projects, and scientific writing. Experienced lecturers have been encouraged to mentor younger ones. The College has promoted a sense of responsibility for work among its lecturers and educational managers. As a result, the College has successfully developed a contingent of lecturers and educational managers both qualitatively and quantitatively, with approximately 75% of them meeting the established professional standards.

Besides, the College has closely linked the "good teaching, good learning" movement with the "Determined to Win" emulation movement and other movements and campaigns initiated by sectors and local authorities. In this regard, the College has concentrated on executing the Campaign on “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be "Uncle Ho's soldiers" in the new era” and the Central Military Commission's Resolution 847-R/CMC, dated 28 December 2021, on “upholding the virtues of Uncle Ho's soldiers, resolutely combating individualism in the current context”, enhancing the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality, and style. Moreover, the College has effectively sustained various teaching and learning models, clubs, and initiatives, such as: "good learning, strict discipline", "three-strong study group", "every teacher is a role model of morality, self-learning, and creativity", "improving training quality through trial and model lessons", "exemplary teaching hour", "model study week", "English club", and "youth theoretical club", among others.

Thanks to practical, comprehensive solutions, the emulation movement has continuously developed both widely and deeply, harnessing collective strength and creating a driving force to encourage individuals and collectives to strive for “good teaching, good learning”, significantly contributing to improving the quality of education, training, and scientific research, making the College Party Organisation typically clean, strong, and building an adept, compact, strong, specialised, smart, and modern College.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN TIEN NGOC

Political Commissar of the College