Strengthening the leadership and direction of all-level party committees and commands; standardising the contingent of lecturers; renovating the training process and programmes, and applying the modern teaching methods are crucial contents in conducting the motto: “The training quality of schools decides the combat readiness capacity of units” in the 2^nd Army Officer Training College, meeting the demand for building the military cadres in the new situation.

For the last three years, the 2^nd Army College has grasped and implemented the motto: “The training quality of schools decides the combat readiness capacity of units” with many solutions which are creative and suitable with the reality of the College and the development of the education and training task in the new situation. Accordingly, the College has made a comprehensive renovation to the education and training, focusing on reforming the training processes and programmes; building the output standards for all learners; actively standardising the contingent of lecturers and educational managers, applying the IT, simulation, digital transformation; and renovating the teaching-learning methods towards modernity. The quality of training and scientific research of the College, hence, has been significantly improved, with the recent training results of 100% passing, over 80% of which being good and excellent. Some surveys in department and units have revealed that all graduated cadets have well met the task requirements based on the output standards.

Conducting 1 sided - 2 leveled exercise in 2024

Presently, the task of building the elite, compact and strong Army towards modernity has made new and higher demands for the military schools in general, the College in particular regarding the education, training and building the high-quality human resources. Clearly understanding their roles and responsibilities, the College’s Party Committee and Director Board have advocated continually grasping and implementing the guidelines and policies of the Party, resolutions, conclusions and directives of the Central Military Commission, Defence Ministry on the education and training, focusing on effectively and practically conducting the motto: “The training quality of schools decides the combat readiness capacity of units”.

Firstly, strengthening the leadership and direction of the College’s Party Committee, Director Board, the party committees and commands of all departments, faculties and units over the education and training. Accordingly, the College has directed the party committees and party organisations at all levels to continuously grasp and concretise the resolutions, directives and projects of the State and the Central Military Commission, Defence Ministry on the education and training; Resolution No. 816-NQ/ĐU, dated 21 March 2023 of the College on “Renovating the education and training to meet the task requirement of building the College in the new situation”, creating the drastic changes in the awareness and responsibility of all people for the renovation and improvement of education and training quality, on that basis, adding the contents, objectives and solutions for implementing Plan No. 619/KH-TM, dated 09 April 2021 of the General Staff, Plan No. 2092/KH-TSQ, dated 17 May 2021 of the College on conducting the motto: “The training quality of schools decides the combat readiness capacity of units” suitably with real situations. In the implementation process, the College has required the party committees of all departments and faculties to raise their responsibilities for speeding, inspecting and guiding all steps and stages of the education and training process, assuring “real teaching, real learning, real evaluating of learners’ capability”, and completely wipe out the thought of being hesitant or not daring to change, stereotype and mechanicality or satisfaction among the contingent of lecturers.

Secondly, paying attention to standardising the contingent of lecturers and educational managers. This is a pivotal solution in improving the quality of education and training according to the defined goals. To make this happen, the College has continuously enhanced the implementation of Resolution No. 1060-NQ/ĐU, dated 11 January 2024 by the College’s Party Committee on “Building the contingent of lecturers and educational managers in the 2023-2030 period and the following years”, focusing on strengthening the organisation and staff; proactively creating sources, selecting and increasing the lecturers due to the defined standards, the postgraduate lecturers in particular. The College has proactively made evaluations and built projects and plans on educating, using and developing the contingent of lecturers and educational managers with sufficient quantity, high quality and synchronous structure, age and profession. To improve the competence for this contingent, the College has promoted the training and further training in echelon; strictly maintained the methodological activities of all faculties and divisions; organised courses on the skills of using digital teaching facilities according to its digital transformation plan, etc., focusing on developing the comprehensive capacity, particularly the one of developing the teaching programmes using modern methods; the capacity of scientific research and applying the information technology; the skills of using the online learning platforms, tools of making digital lesson plans, and new teaching methods based on the digital technology; the improvement of foreign languages, IT, etc., at the same time, actively training and improving the knowledge, skills and real experience for the contingent of lecturers and educational managers according to standards of the teaching competency framework for lecturers in the military schools and academies through rotating cadres and sending them to field trips to learn and research in units in the entire army. Together, the College has made surveys and evaluations to develop the training programmes, and collect feedback about the quality of cadres and cadets who have just graduated from the College and been working in the units, making these as the bases to adjust, complete and renew the teaching contents, programmes, forms and methods for cadres and lecturers, striving to the end of 2030, 95% of the lecturers and educational managers fully meet the standards; 20%-30% of them are able to work in the international environment; 25% of the lecturers and educational managers own the PhD degree; 01 to 02 lecturers and educational managers are awarded with the title of People’s Teacher and Elite Teacher. Each year, there are 01 to 02 lecturers and educational managers who are recognised as meeting the standards for the Title of Associate Professor; 03 to 05 or more lecturers are awarded with the Title of “Excellent Lecturer” at the Ministry of National Defence level.

Conducting firing test

Thirdly, continuing to renovate the training processes and programmes. Based on the grasp and implementation of the Project on “Renovating the training processes and programmes for all-level cadres in the Army in the new situation”, the College’s Party Committee and Director Board have directed all departments and faculties to strictly follow the motto: “The training quality of schools decides the combat readiness capacity of units”, proactively coordinated to check, build and complete the training process, meeting the real requirements of each training level and object, assuring the logicality and scientificality in each subject, school term, school year and the whole course. The College has intensely built and standardised the training contents and programmes in a basic, comprehensive and interconnected way, which inherits, integrates and closely follows the training objectives and reality. In the implementation process, the College has aimed to balance the basic knowledge and the professional one; military science and social sciences and humanities, etc. The college has continued to integrate into the training contents and programmes some new issues regarding the military, defence and Fatherland protecting tasks, new development of the military art, military techniques, people’s war, cyberspace war, operations to protect the sovereignty over seas and islands, the units’ realities of training and combat readiness, etc. Together, to make further training on the comprehensive capacity for the cadets, the College has regularly evaluated and adjusted the training programmes in the way of decreasing the theoretical training time, increasing the practice time in the units and self-study time for cadets; combined the military knowledge with the professional knowledge and skills of the party and political work, socio-economy, law, foreign languages, IT and other essential skills for future cadres and officers. The College has strived to have 100% graduated cadets being able to meet the output standards, and apply the learned knowledge into the reality of commanding, training and practising in all grassroots units.

Fourthly, actively applying the modern teaching methods in an effective way. Based on the defined aims, requirements and tasks of education and training, the College has enhanced the application of IT, the simulation and digitalisation technology in particular, into the teaching to increase the visuality and closeness to the training and combat reality. The College has also maximised the lecturers’ roles in coordinating with the educational managers to guide, organise and control the cadets’ self-study and self-acquirement of knowledge. To increase the effectiveness, the College has directed all faculties to maintain all methodological activities including lesson approval, observation, commentation, good teacher contests and experience withdrawal in order to improve the lecturers’ pedagogical skills and capacity of applying IT and other modern teaching aids, actively research to reform the teaching methods suitably with the contents, programmes and learners, completely remove the one-way instructions, flexibly apply the methods of problem-based teaching or conversation to bring into play the learners’ activeness and creativity. Especially, the College has continued to enhance the implementation of Directive No. 89/CT-BQP, dated 04 April 2018 on “Promoting the summary of the real training and combat readiness combined with the education and training in the military schools, meeting the task requirements in the new situation” in order to develop the learners’ skills and creative thinking in the way of “Schools being connected with the battlefields towards the units”. For the cadets, the College has promoted and improved the quality of self-study and self-training in the way of turning the training process into the self-training process, taking the “self-study as the core”.

Together, the College has continued to renew the testing system; complete the textbook and teaching document system; invest in the facilities, firing ranges, training grounds, teaching-learning aids, etc. to continuously improve the education and training quality, well meeting the demand for building the contingent of military cadres on a par with the tasks.

Lieutenant General NGUYEN XUAN SON, The College’s Political Commissar