Thai Nguyen University is one of three regional universities and belongs to the group of key national unversities. Apart from training of high-quality human resources in support of national industrialisation and modernisation, Thai Nguyen University has led and directed its Centre for Defence and Security Education (hereinafter referred to as Centre) to enhance defence and security education to students of its affiliated colleges and professional training facilities in the area as well as members of self-defence units. In recent years, facing increased requirements of defence and security education in the new situation, Thai Nguyen University has directed the Centre to boost training activities, strengthen capabilities in every aspect, and resolve to preserve and enhance quality of this subject, contributing to the development of education and training as well as cultivation of high-quality human resources for building and safeguarding the Fatherland. In the 2020 – 2023 period, the Centre provided education and certificates for over 23,300 students, of whom 67% were graded good and excellent, completing its assigned task successfully.

On bringing into play these achivements, the Party Committee and Board of Directors of Thai Nguyen University strengthen comprehensive leadership of the Centre’s activities. Every year, on the basis of resolutions and directives of the Party Committee and Board of Directors as well as the 1st Military Region Command, the Centre’s Board of Directors formulate leadership resolutions and plans to implement items of work comprehensively and synchronously; lay out many policies and innovative measures to enhance quality of the subject and meet requirement of reforming education and training basically and comprehensively. To well carry out programmes provided in the Circular No. 05/2020/TT-BGDDT, dated 18 March 2020 of the Ministry of Education and Training according to the credit system, the Centre issues regulations on implementing the subject programme; using bank exams; teaching, learning, and assessment; examination and quality accreditation; management and training of pupils and students; school culture and code of conduct for learners, and so on. Moreover, it works out plans and inspects the compliance with regulations among lecturers, cadres, public employees, and labourers, which aims to establish a healthy, pedagogic-military cultural environment. The Centre also attaches importance to good popularisation of missions, education, and cultivation of motivation and responsibility among learners, fostering unity of awareness and action in mission execution. 

Director of the Centre for defence and security education of the University awards outstanding defence and security teachers in 2023

To continue to uphold and improve training quality, realise the objective of developing the Centre through 2025 and vision for 2030, and have sufficient capability to deliver defence and security education to 15,000 students per year, the Centre has advised Thai Nguyen University and 1st Military Region Command to adopt many measures to strengthen organisation and staffing and establish the corps of cadres and lecturers with sufficient criteria and on a par with mission requirements. The corps of dispatched military officers, which accounts for 60% of the lecturers, remains the Centre’s core force to perform missions. Nevertheless, due to mission requirements, these lecturers will be gradually reduced according to a road map. Given this reality, in the time to come, on one hand the Centre will have to stick to the Project on enhancing lecturers’ competency in defence and security education in the 2020 – 2025 period, advise the University Party Committee and Board of Directors to cooperate with the Military Region’s Directorate of Politics on proposing a plan for the higher echelon to maintain a proportion of cadres during reorganisation and extend dispatched military officers’ length of service. But, on the other, it proactively proposes selection of cadres for second-certificate training courses in defence and security education; dispatchs cadres with 2nd certificates to postgraduate courses; actively sends cadres and lecturers to training courses run by the Department of Defence and Security Education and Military Region’s Council of Defence and Security Education; chooses officers with profound knowledge of training infantry combat skills and tactics to conduct on-site training, thereby enhancing quality of the corps of cadres and lecturers in terms of managerial and professional experience. Additionally, to gradually standardise the corps of cadres and lecturers, the Centre enforces regulations on methodological activities, approving lesson plans, assigning topics to lecturers, conducting microteaching to draw lessons learnt, and holding contests for excellent teachers. These measures are regarded as an important way to enhance pedagogical skills and professional competency as well as to train military teachers’ confidence and style. The Centre also invites leaders of the 1st Military Region and Public Security of Thai Nguyen province to talk about specific topics to consolidate lecturers’ knowledge of national defence and military in the new situation; attaches importance to good implementation of policies and support for cadres’ and lecturers’ daily life and work; encourages and creates favourable conditions for cadres and lecturers to study to broaden their knowledge, experience, and skills, striving for meeting mission requirements. Currently, with two associate professors, two doctors, 27 masters, and 29 bachelors, the Centre continues to step up cadres’ self-study and self-training with a view to raising their in-depth knowledge and skills, sense of responsibility, activeness and proactiveness at work and good accomplishment of tasks. 

To improve quality of the subject, the Centre speeds up reform of teaching methodology and takes initiative in updating the subject program with new knowledge. Accordingly, the Centre proactively grasps the competency of students in order to choose the right teaching methodology. As for each course, the Centre directs lecturers to prepare content and methodology that suit learners’ major and competency; attach importance to interaction; instruct students to get an in-depth look at material and apply the knowledge to practice; enhance use of digital lessons; illustrate lessons with video clips and photos about defence and security activities, especially those simulating combat senarios, combat skills, and tactics, ect., thus attracting learners. Regarding content such as general military knowledge, infantry combat techniques, and tactics, the Centre taps into its advantages about training ground to intensify practical training; divide students into smaller groups to enable them to observe and imitate actions, thus being rectified, firmly grasping basic movements, and improving coordination within a section and platoon. The Central instructs the Training Department and faculties to stick to the Circular No. 05/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training to develop eight subject programmes, draw up detailed outlines and a collection of lessons that aligning defence and security education with students’ majors while paying attention to update on guidelines and policies of the Party and State on defence and security as well as emerging situations in the region and the world and the task of safeguarding the Fatherland.

Defence and security education is a unique subject, which has high requirements of knowledge, skills, material infrastructure, weapons, equipment, and training ground. The Centre, therefore, pays constant attention to recommendation and leverage of internal strength to provide good support for the subject, especially the building and consolidation of training ground, virtual classrooms, and rooms for specific purposes. In the 2020 – 2023 period, the Centre built an area used for field day activities, renovated dormitories to provide sufficient accommodation for students, built concrete roads leading to tactical training ground, and acquired more simulating devices and software, thus creating a technological foundation for applying modern teaching methodologies and meeting development requirement of the subject.  

Moreover, the Centre promotes political education, management, and training of organisational skills and self-discipline to meet requirements of national construction and defence in the new situation. To achieve this goal, the popularisation of regulations on study, rights, and duties of students is carried out properly, clearly, and publicly on the Internet by the Centre, ensuring that students are able to settle down. During the learning process, the students are organised into companies and platoons. All management cadres are dispatched officers. The students are commissioned as section commanders and platoon commanders, thus creating favourable conditions for them to study and train themselves, especially in terms of military subject and practice. The Central also requests its lecturers to combine dissemination of knowledge with cultivation of ideals and development of military spirit and skills; put emphasis on setting good examples and fostering military culture. On realising the motto of “learning how to do everything and being increasingly exposed to experience,” the Centre strictly upholds daily, monthly activities, including flag salute ceremony, roll call, arrangement of personal items, hygiene, and marching for physical training; attaches importance to the compliance with regulations the conduct of military personnel and punishment of violation; instructs students how to cook meals with Hoang Cam stove, keep watch of the barrack, and align study and training with personal activities, thereby involving students’ activities in the military environment.

The Centre intensifies extracurricular activities for students with a view to consolidating study content. Over the past few years, the Centre has successfully developed and organised the “Student-Soldier Programme” for courses; cooperated with the Public Security of Thai Nguyen city in propagandising law among students; worked with the University of Medicine and Pharmacy to organise the “We are soldiers of medicine and pharmacy”; collaborated with the Military Region’s Department of Politics in showing documentaries about military, defence activities; organised visits to military units; held sessions on traditional topics, conducted of cultural exchanges. More importantly, on bringing into play the advantages of the “Capital of Resistant Wars,” the Centre has conducted extracurricular activities such as visits to historical relics in the Safe Zone, incense offering in martyrs’ cemeteries, etc., with a view to consolidating knowledge, educating tradition, raising political awareness, and activating patriotism and pride in the country among students, who are future masters of the country.

Safeguarding the Fatherland as stipulated by the Resolution of the 8th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (13th tenure) is placing new, high, comprehensive requirements. This requests defence and security education in general, the Centre for Defence and Security Education of Thai Nguyen University in particular to continue to overcome difficulties and fulfil this vital task better, contributing to training of human resources, strengthening of defence and security, and successful construction and protection of the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Senior Colonel DINH VAN LONG, Deputy Director of the Centre for Defence and Security Education, University of Thai Nguyen