Renewing and improving education and training represent an important, urgent task and act as a deciding factor in raising the quality of human resources for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in line with the cause of Fatherland construction and protection.

Fully aware of the special importance of education and training work to the cause of VPA building, national defence consolidation, and Fatherland protection, over the years, the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Ministry of National Defence (MND), and all-level party committees and commands of offices and units across the entire VPA, particularly military academies and schools (hereinafter referred to as military schools) have exercised their leadership and direction over this work and obtained many encouraging achievements.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Nghia addresses an oath-taking ceremony for new soldiers at Regiment 165, Division 312, Army Corps 12 (photo: qdnd.vn)

The system of military schools has continued to be consolidated in accordance with the organisation of the VPA and the development of education and training. Reform and improvement in education and training have been carried out drastically, thus making significant positive changes. A pool of teachers and education managers has been developed with proper structure and increasingly high quality. Training procedures, programs, and content have been adjusted and standardised in line with realities and the motto: “schools’ training quality is the combat readiness capacity of units”. Military schools have actively reformed their teaching methods, applying advances in science and technology, employing modern equipment in teaching. There have been many reforms in entrance exam, testing, investigation, and quality control work. Military schools’ prestige and position have been unceasingly raised as the basis for building high-quality human resources, enhancing the VPA’s synergy and combat power, and practically fostering the country’s industrialisation and modernisation cause.

However, there have been several weaknesses in the Military’s education and training work. Training programs for some specialities have yet to keep pace with practical developments; the quality assurance system in several schools has yet to be consolidated. The qualifications, capabilities, and hands-on experiences, particularly in foreign languages and information technology among a section of teachers and managers have been still limited. Training facilities and equipment at some schools have yet to meet the requirements of renewing and developing education and training.

In the upcoming time, there will be rapid, complex changes throughout the world and in the region. The 4^th industrial revolution will both negatively and positively impact on all areas, including defence, security, and education and training. Domestically, many new lines and policies of our Party and State, especially on science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and education and training will be implemented. Our Party and State will continue investing in building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA; military, defence, and Fatherland protection tasks necessitate training and building high-quality human resources. Hence, the entire VPA, particularly military schools should continue to achieve a breakthrough in raising the quality of education and training, with a focus on the following.

First, concentrating on raising public awareness, building great political resolve, creating new incentives for renewing and improving education and training within the Military. This is a fundamental solution aimed at harnessing the combined strength of components and forces and ensuring that reforms in education and training will be conducted effectively and in the right direction. When our Party, State, and VPA implement many breakthrough lines and policies, the building of human resources, especially the development of high-calibre human resources will become the central “link” in all breakthroughs. Thus, party committees and commands of military offices, units, and schools should be fully aware of the role and dialectical relationship between a reform in education and training and science - technology development, innovation, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence (AI). They should continue to concretise the goal of renewing and developing education and training and focus on reviewing and supplementing targets and measures in their action plans for resolutions, directives, conclusions, and projects on education and training by the Party Central Committee, CMC, and MND right in the academic year of 2025 - 2026, particularly the Politburo’s Resolution 71-NQ/TW, dated 22 August 2025, on breakthroughs in education and training development. Besides, they should disseminate those documents to make an all-round positive change in awareness and a sense of responsibility among all troops, especially all leaders and commanders. The implementation process should be in a close, synchronous, effective way and under the motto of “clear responsibility, clear tasks, clear timeline, clear authority, and clear outcomes”. It is important to shift from a “reform and adjustment” mindset to a “creation and development” mindset and tighten discipline in the process. Leadership, direction, inspection, and supervision work for education and training by party committees and commands at all levels should be enhanced to detect and rectify weaknesses opportunely, prevent subjectivity and formality, and commend and multiply creative, effective models and approaches. Doing so will help promote the combined strength of organisations and forces and create new incentives for the sustainable development of education and training across the VPA.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Nghia gives presents to forces taking part in the grand parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (photo: vov.vn)

Second, renewing curricula, training content, teaching and learning methods in a synchronous, comprehensive, focalised manner, ensuring continuity and development, giving priority to new, critical, urgent fields and tasks. Military schools should continue grasping and realising the Project on “renewing procedures and programs for training all-level military cadres to meet the task requirements in the new situation” as well as the motto: “schools’ training quality is the combat readiness capacity of units”. Emphasis should be placed on reviewing, adjusting, and designing curricula and outcome standards relevant to our Party and State’s lines and policies, our VPA’s functions and tasks, and the requirements of Fatherland protection in the new situation. It is essential to step up foreign language teaching and learning and gradually turn English into the second language within schools.

In the medium term, due attention should be paid to opening new specialities and holding specialised training programs for defence industry development and VPA modernisation as well as designing projects to train and develop young talents in key areas, such as command and staff, politics, military science and technology, and medicine. Training programs should be adjusted to meet the requirements of the two-tier local government model, particularly for personnel of regional defence and commune-level military commands. Military schools assigned to train civilian manpower should continue to standardise their curricula, update themselves on new knowledge, and adhere to the policy of only opening really essential specialities in accordance with their strengths so as to meet the requirements of national industrialisation and modernisation and sustain their brand and prestige. Moreover, it is important to continue refining training programs to ensure continuity and development; significance should be attached to providing updates on military, defence, and Fatherland protection tasks, the development of science, technology, military art, and weaponry, lessons learned from recent wars and armed conflicts around the world, as well as units’ training and combat readiness requirements.

Based on the approved training programs, military schools should further renew their teaching methods with a shift from the imparting of knowledge to the development of skills, self-study, and creative thinking among learners so as to enable graduates to possess sufficient qualities and capabilities and quickly adapt to all working environments. Besides, it is necessary to create more chances for teachers and learners to engage in exchange programs and observe exercises in units, with a view to improving their teaching capacity and hands-on experiences.  

Third, building and developing a pool of teachers and education managers with comprehensive qualities and capabilities. Teachers and education managers play a decisive role in raising the quality of education and training; hence, military schools should frequently focus on building this contingent with proper quantity, quality, and structure; there should be sufficient personnel to perform the tasks of management and teaching and conduct deployments for further training and hands-on experience. Emphasis should be placed on increasing the rate of teachers with doctoral degree and those attaining the titles of professor, associate professor, People’s Teacher, and Meritorious Teacher; due regard should be paid to developing a corps of chief engineers and top scientists in new fields, core technologies, foundational technologies, AI, and other specific areas of military science and technology. To that end, it is vital to continue executing the Project on “building a contingent of military teachers and education managers in the period of 2023 - 2030 and beyond” in tandem with the Project on “policy to attract and utilise talents for the VPA towards 2030, with a vision towards 2045”. Military schools should adjust and supplement their long-term training and professional development plans for their teachers and education managers. At the same time, there should be breakthrough solutions to develop a corps of top experts and scientists who both engage in teaching and research and effectively contribute to socio-economic, national science research projects, defence industry development, and VPA modernisation. It is necessary to closely follow the CMC Standing Board’s policy on selecting and deploying graduates with distinction to combat units before they return to teaching work. Besides, projects on job rotation between military schools and units should be proposed to enable cadres to fully understand units’ realities and enhance their teaching effectiveness. The General Staff should collaborate with competent agencies to propose preferential treatment policies for teachers and education managers to the MND in accordance with due regard paid by our Party and State in the field of education and training, with the aim of enabling those cadres to keep their mind on their work.

Fourth, mobilising and utilising resources for modernising training facilities and equipment as the basis for renewing and improving education and training and school administration. Military schools should adhere to Criteria for Smart Military Schools, while continuing to review and assess their current conditions, developing master plans for the period of 2026 - 2030 and beyond, ensuring continuity and feasibility. They should actively propose projects to allocate resources for modernising facilities and teaching - learning equipment. Within limited resources, they should give priority to modernising training grounds in accordance with modern weapons and equipment, foster the development of information technology infrastructures, training operation centres, simulation training centres, multi-functional classrooms, laboratories, digital libraries, and electronic libraries, and gradually realise the goal of building “smart schools capable of approaching the 4^th industrial revolution”. In the medium term, Military Technical Academy, Signal Officer College, and Infantry Officer College No.2 should focus on completing information technology infrastructures, exam question banks, and computer-based competence assessment exams from 2026 as the basis for multiplying those models and raising the effectiveness and quality of entrance exam work across military schools.

Grounded on their infrastructural development, military schools should further apply information technology, AI, and digital transformation in education management and school administration; they should renew forms of testing, assessment, re-assessment, quality control and intensify quality self-evaluation to guarantee objectivity and substance. Due attention should be paid to turning military schools into role models in terms of regularity building for units to study and follow; a healthy education environment should be created to allow cadets to improve their knowledge and perfect the personality of revolutionary soldiers.

Fifth, stepping up science research and international cooperation in education and training within the VPA. Amid Vietnam’s deep and wide integration into the world and the robust development of science and technology, promoting science research and international cooperation in education and training becomes a matter of urgency. Therefore, military schools should be fully aware of the role of science research, consider it as an important part of education and training work, and take it as a criterion for evaluating the competence of teachers and cadets. Great value should be attached to closely combining education and training with science research. Emphasis should be placed on developing strong research centres and groups, especially in military science, Vietnam’s military art in hi-tech warfare, weapon science and technology, multi-domain operations, and non-traditional security issues to enable military schools to play a pioneering role in studying theories, summarising realities, and giving advice to the CMC and MND on new issues relating to the building of all-people national defence. However, international cooperation in education and training should be selective and appropriate to national interests and our Party’s defence diplomacy lines. Military schools should actively engage in academic exchange, organise scientific forums and workshops, conduct teacher and cadet exchange programs with traditional friends and countries having advanced military science, and take part in international scientific conferences to raise the VPA’s prestige and position on the global stage.

Renewing and improving education and training within the Military constitute a strategic, urgent task. The whole VPA, particularly military schools should continue grasping their functions and tasks, heightening a sense of responsibility, and adopting synchronised solutions to successfully fulfil this task as a solid foundation for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA and firmly protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

Sr. Lt. Gen. NGUYEN VAN NGHIA

Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the VPA