When the head of the propaganda department is also the director of the political training center

LEAN, EFFICIENT

On June 28, 2018, implementing Plan No. 144-KH/TU dated June 25, 2018 of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, comrade Nguyen Minh Hanh - Head of the Propaganda Department of Do Luong District Party Committee received a decision to take on the additional role of Director of the Political Training Center (BDCT) of Do Luong District (the old Director resigned from his position and was transferred to work as Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department of the District Party Committee).

Up to now, according to comrade Hanh's assessment, basically, the professional work has become orderly and systematic. Political education work in 2019 in Do Luong, the plan to organize 70 classes for 10,000 students, assign teachers, lecturers, and assign specific tasks, in the first 6 months of the year, 40 classes have been completed, and it is expected that in November, the year's plan will be "finished".

The organizational work was also streamlined. The District Party Committee agreed with the proposal to merge the Political Training Center Party Cell into the Propaganda Department Party Cell, dissolve the Center's Trade Union, and introduce union members to participate in activities at the Propaganda Department's Trade Union group.

Handing over the decision to assign the head of the propaganda department to also be the director of the political training center in Con Cuong district. Photo: TG

In Hoang Mai town, the above policy has initially proven its effectiveness in practice, reducing intermediaries while still ensuring good implementation of political tasks.

From June 22, 2018, the central organization consists of the Head of the Propaganda Department who is also the Director of the Town's BDCT Center; 2 deputy directors and 2 administrative officers. By 2020, based on current regulations and the actual conditions of the town, the center will be arranged to have only 1 deputy director.

According to the assessment of Hoang Mai City Party Committee, the implementation of Plan No. 144-KH/TU has contributed significantly to promoting the role and responsibilities of the leader, the coordination between the Center for Political Affairs and the City Party Committee's Propaganda Department has been more favorable and effective, the quality of training classes and fostering classes for Party admission and new Party members has been significantly improved; class visits, class observation, and improving the quality of part-time lecturers have been given more attention...

Notably, since December 2018, the Town's Political Information Center has built an electronic information page to effectively serve information and propaganda work to carry out political tasks, attracting over 150,000 visitors and followers.

Comrade Nguyen Anh Van - Head of the Propaganda Department of Hoang Mai City Party Committee (left) visits the grassroots. Photo: Archive

At the conference to review the propaganda work in the first 6 months of the year, many opinions expressed by the heads of the propaganda department, who are also directors of the propaganda centers of other districts, cities and towns in the province such as Vinh city, Anh Son, Que Phong, Yen Thanh districts... all acknowledged the very clear initial results that the general policy has brought.

Comrade Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department also commented that the implementation of the policy of unifying the above two positions after 1 year has reaped more advantages than difficulties and obstacles.

"Implementing the policy that the head of the propaganda department is also the director of the district-level propaganda center reduces one intermediary step, and the policies and resolutions of the Party Committee for the center are more realistic and closely follow political tasks.

At the same time, the staffing level can be reduced and the responsibility of the Standing Committee member in charge of ideological work associated with political theory education in the area can be enhanced.

Comrade Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department

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However, the leader of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department also emphasized that in the process of implementing the province's general policy, the important issue that needs to be noted is the way of managing and dividing the work time of the head of the Propaganda Department, who is also the director of the BDCT center, as well as improving the quality of lecturers and promoting the role of part-time lecturers.

In fact, after implementing the policy of the head of the propaganda department also being the director of the BDCT center at the district level, the number of full-time lecturers at the center decreased, leading to the main use of part-time lecturers.

Head of the District Party Committee's Propaganda Department and Director of the Do Luong Center for Propaganda and Education Nguyen Minh Hanh shared experiences at the conference to review propaganda work in the first 6 months of the year. Photo: Thu Giang

Meanwhile, the work of arranging, using, managing and providing benefits for the teaching staff is still limited. As discussed by comrade Nguyen Minh Hanh (Do Luong), after the unification, the Do Luong BDCT Center only has "2 and a half people, the work is still running, but the brothers are very tired", the number of full-time lecturers has decreased from 3 to only 2, which is one of the realities that made this locality propose to the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department to recommend the Central Committee to review the structure of the center to suit the model, ensuring the quality of implementing political tasks.

In Hoang Mai town, the majority of lecturers at the town's BDCT Center are part-time, some have not undergone the required pedagogical training program; some lecturers have limited political theory education skills, and teaching methods are still heavy on presentation, exchange, and discussion methods. These are the "bottlenecks" that localities are concerned about and are interested in discussing to find ways to solve the problem.

Sharing her experience after 1 year of taking on the additional position of Director of the Vinh City BDCT Center, Head of the City Party Committee's Propaganda Department Ngo Thi Huong said that in order to improve the quality of teaching and attract more part-time lecturers to participate in imparting content at the center, the unit has proposed to increase the allowance for lecturers from 400,000 VND/session to 600,000 - 900,000 VND/session, consolidate the team of part-time lecturers, invite members of the Standing Committee, heads and deputy heads of Party committees to participate, and assign specific and clear teaching schedules.

At the same time, to ensure the work of both the propaganda department and the BDCT center, comrade Huong flexibly applied the mechanism of assignment, division of tasks, and delegation of authority, both enhancing the team's responsibility and completing assigned tasks well.

Head of the Propaganda Department and Director of the Thai Hoa Town Center for Information and Communications performs professional duties. Photo: Thu Giang

Other contents related to the regime and policies for the head of the propaganda department who is also the director of the district-level propaganda center; the arrangement of the Party and trade union organizations at the district-level propaganda center... were also enthusiastically mentioned by "insiders" at the conference to review propaganda work in the first 6 months of the year.

According to comrade Tran Quoc Khanh - Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, in general, Nghe An has promptly, seriously and effectively implemented the Central Committee's correct policies, contributing to improving the quality of training and fostering political theory for cadres and party members at the grassroots level.

The difficulties and problems in the process of implementing this policy were compiled, received, studied and recommended to higher levels by the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, while at the same time encouraging units to share and replicate good models and good practices.

“The initial effectiveness in implementing this policy is the basis for localities and units to continue to innovate, improve the quality and effectiveness of studying, researching, applying and developing Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought in the new situation.”

Comrade Tran Quoc Khanh - Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department