Promoting national defense and security education in schools

(Baonghean) -In order to help students have a more comprehensive understanding of the revolutionary fighting tradition of their ancestors, and at the same time, to guide students to be aware of the spirit of "readiness to fight" in the military, instead of studying all at once at the beginning of the school year, recently, in the distribution of programs of high schools and vocational schools, the subject of National Defense and Security Education (GDQP-AN) has been assigned teachers and taught weekly along with other main subjects.

Since November 2010, the Department of Education and Training has organized the construction of a pilot model for the subject of National Defense and Security Education at the high school level and the work of ensuring school security. The schools selected as pilot models are: Ha Huy Tap High School, Quynh Luu 2 High School; Building a pilot model for the subject of National Defense and Security Education associated with school security work at Le Mao Secondary School (Vinh City). To implement the model construction, the Department of Education and Training was assigned a full-time officer by the Provincial Military Command.

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Xuan Dong, who was assigned by the Provincial Military Command to specialize in this subject, said: There are currently 92 high schools in the area, with more than 120,000 students and more than 2,800 classes of National Defense Education and Security each year. Before implementing the model, the Department of Education and Training conducted training for teachers, researched and compiled textbooks, etc. Up to now, there have been nearly 300 teachers teaching National Defense Education and Security in the industry, of which 64 teachers have received a second degree, the rest have received short-term training and have certificates in this subject. Thus, the shortage of teachers to implement the program for high school level is resolved, which is 35 periods per school year and 105 periods per year in vocational schools.

Practical gun assembly lesson of 12th grade students, Ha Huy Tap High School.

Ha Huy Tap High School (Vinh City) is one of the model schools of the industry in this subject. Mr. Hoang Minh Luong, Principal of Ha Huy Tap High School, said: Starting from the 2011-2012 school year, the school has been supplemented with 6 teachers in charge of the National Defense Education and Security subject, including 2 teachers who graduated from the National Defense Education Department of Vinh University. To effectively carry out the task of building a model school in National Defense Education and Security, the school has organized extensive propaganda on National Defense Education and Security for staff, teachers and students through many forms such as integrating into the lessons of other cultural subjects, through the school's bulletin system, radio, billboards, posters; Integrating the content of National Defense and Security Education into extracurricular activities such as: Arts, Sports, organizing clubs, research competitions, commitments... The school also equips well with facilities for teaching and learning National Defense and Security Education such as building playgrounds, teaching equipment such as guns, grenades, targets, reference textbooks...

The school's three grades 10, 11 and 12 have a total of 39 classes with 1,800 students. All grades are distributed according to regulations, each year there are 35 periods of National Defense Education and Security. Grade 10 students are equipped with the most basic knowledge, first of all, the patriotic tradition of the Vietnamese people; learning how to form teams without guns, first aid for common injuries...; Grade 11, learns the Law on Military Service; introduces hand-held weapons such as AK, CKC submachine guns, grenades; Grade 12 learns about the organizational system, military and police recruitment and training. Learns about tactics, postures and movements applied on the battlefield and is thoroughly informed about the responsibility to protect the Fatherland...

The final results of the last school year showed that 28% of students achieved excellent results, 51% achieved good results. Through the organization of national defense sports competitions for students in grades 11 and 12, 100% met the requirements, of which 70% achieved excellent results, the highest in the whole province. The most obvious change was when the subject of National Defense Education and Security was included in the curriculum, students of all grades gathered to salute the flag at the beginning of the week very punctually and in order, school security was much better than before. In addition, the school also coordinated with local authorities and Ha Huy Tap Ward Police to propagate the law to students to ensure school security. In the 2 school years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, the school had no students violating traffic safety laws...

Talking about the subject of National Defense Education and Security, student Vuong Thu Trang, grade 12D, Le Viet Thuat High School shared: “The subject of National Defense Education and Security trains us in courage, sense of organization and discipline, and quickness. Along with other main subjects, in addition to theoretical lessons in class, we also practice, so we can grasp some basic skills in military operations and realize our obligations and responsibilities for the cause of protecting the Fatherland.”

In the 2013-2014 school year, the Education sector continues to thoroughly grasp and promote the good implementation of documents on national defense education and security of the Ministry of Education and Training; closely direct the organization of teaching and learning and evaluate the quality of students (through inspection, 100% of teaching and learning organizations are implemented according to the program distribution deployed by the Department; schools have built timetables, score books with separate score columns for subjects); Recently, the Department has directed the arrangement of teachers to teach national defense education and security to have a certificate of degree, not to use untrained teachers; ensure new equipment for this subject according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training... Thanks to that, recently the quality of national defense education has clearly changed: In the 2010-2011 school year, the results were excellent at 13.9%, fair at 65%; In the 2011-2012 school year, the rate increased to nearly 15% excellent and over 70% fair. In the 2012-2013 school year, Nghe An Education and Training Department had 6 teachers competing to become national excellent teachers in the subject of National Defense and Security Education.

Mr. Thai Huy Vinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, proposed: To standardize the teaching staff, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to have instructions on additional training time for teachers of National Defense and Security who have had certificates 6 months ago; National Defense and Security Education Councils at all levels need to pay attention to directing the training and development of teachers of National Defense and Security; must pay attention to the school campus (yard area) to meet the needs of teachers and students large enough to organize practice and propose the State to support funding for purchasing equipment for teaching National Defense and Security Education for non-public high schools...

Article and photos:Pham Ngan