Bridge connecting distant lands

(Baonghean) - Approaching new cultures and new worlds has become a common trend and more than that - a legitimate need for dynamic and ambitious young people. How can the knowledge that Vietnamese people learn from the world find its roots in the flow of consciousness to contribute to and build the homeland and country? Promoting the work of building and consolidating party organizations among overseas students is one of the answers to this troubling question of society.

According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam has more than 100,000 students studying abroad. Among them, the most "favorite" destinations are China, the US, the UK, France, Singapore, etc. The reality is that many international students, after completing their study program, will seek job opportunities abroad. This is an issue that has been of great concern to public opinion, with many conflicting opinions. In particular, an article compared the fact that 12/13 champions of the program "Road to Olympia" chose not to return home as an "alarm bell" about the situation that society still calls "brain drain".

However, more than the geographical distance, the worrying thing is the deviation, the distance in ideology, awareness, and sense of civic duty of Vietnamese people living abroad in general and international students in particular. Vietnamese people living and working abroad can completely contribute to and build the country if their feelings and thoughts are still directed towards their homeland. Thus, the key to solving the "brain drain" problem does not lie in controlling people, but in orienting the ideology of international students.

Vietnam's national flower shines at the Carnaval Festival in France (organized by UEVF).

UEVF's "brother"...

France is one of the top study abroad destinations with more than 6,000 Vietnamese students. Here, a network of Vietnamese Students' Association in France (UEVF) has been formed, operating systematically and closely connected with the Vietnamese Embassy in France. Divided into 4 major branches: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest including local branches, UEVF is a place for international students to exchange information and help each other. At the same time, this is also the organization responsible for implementing major activities and movements of the international student community in France, connecting with the network of Vietnamese student communities around the world.

Perhaps there is no Vietnamese student studying abroad in France who does not know about UEVF or the movements and activities that this organization launches and promotes annually such as Jeunes Talents (Young Talents), Miss Spring, Don Tet Lunar New Year, Com co thit,... However, what not everyone knows is that UEVF has a "brother" - the Overseas Students Party Cell in France. Directly under the Party Committee of the Vietnamese Embassy in France, there is a network of student Party cells distributed in provinces and cities, including large Party cells with 20-25 Party members such as the Party Cell in Paris, the Party Cell in Lyon, Nice, Nancy,...

Not only receiving party members from Vietnam to study in France, overseas student party cells are also active in searching, training and recruiting new party members, strengthening party organizations in the overseas student community. For party members who transfer their activities from Vietnam to France, the Party Committee of the Vietnamese Embassy in France will write a letter of introduction to the local party cell (meeting regularly every two months to disseminate the Party's guidelines and policies as well as important current events, politics, culture and society at home and abroad). In addition, depending on the number of party members in the party cell, each year the party cell can introduce 1-3 people to attend the Party sympathy class (there are 2 classes each year, each class gathers about 20 people from many cities across the country) and consider admission after a probationary period according to the provisions of the Charter.

Awarding certificates to students with good achievements at the UEVF Mid-Term Congress 2012 - 2014.

So what is the role of the overseas student party cell, besides a large and regularly active Student Association? In fact, the relationship between these two organizations is quite close: party members of the student party cell are often the core force of the Student Association. This is a two-way relationship: the Student Association is where forces are concentrated, creating an environment for overseas students to develop and demonstrate their abilities as well as their awareness and ideals - thereby introducing to the student party cell the elite masses who are qualified to join the Party. In return, the party cell is the bridge connecting the overseas student community with the representative agency of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in France - the Embassy, ​​which is also the link connecting this community with the country more than 9,000 km away from them...

Spread and converge

More specifically, the role of the Party organization among foreign students is as follows: First, to propagate and popularize the policies and guidelines of the Party and the State. This has always been the top priority of the Party organization at home and abroad. For international students standing at the "gateway of exchange" of foreign civilizations, maintaining a firm stance, having a correct, complete and timely awareness of the obligations and rights of citizens, and issues related to national interests is an even more urgent requirement, because it is always more difficult to implement than for the Party organization and the masses in the country, and must withstand external pressures and impacts. In such a complex context, the orientation of the Party organization is necessary for the activities of students to be organized, in line with the policies and guidelines of the Party and the State, creating resonance with international friends.

Gio Lao Nghe Tinh football team at the Student Football Tournament organized by UEVF.

Second, the Party and the State have a policy of promoting the building of party organizations among students in order to exploit and promote this elite force, and at the same time, create human resources and the nucleus for future social development. More than 6,000 Vietnamese students studying in France in particular and more than 100,000 Vietnamese students studying in the world in general are a community of many elite individuals that need to be thoroughly exploited. First of all, to spread the Party and State's ideology and policies beyond the border, both to build the image of the country and the Vietnamese people in the eyes of international friends, and to unify the Vietnamese community abroad into a strong bloc, within the great national unity bloc. After that, the party organization has the task of orienting, mobilizing and encouraging the "return home" ideology among overseas students, so that they are aware of their obligations as citizens and are motivated to fulfill those obligations.

In fact, many party members recruited abroad are those who wish to return to their homeland - this is also one of the strong motivations that urge them to study, work and contribute to join the Party. When they return home, they will be "new-style" party members: those who have the ideal of contributing and building their homeland with knowledge and methods learned from abroad. This force will be a breath of fresh air for the party organization, but at the same time, it will be a flow from the long-standing source of patriotism of the nation, awakening that sacred sentiment in the Vietnamese community abroad. Finding, nurturing, creating conditions for the development and recognition of these factors is the top priority for party organizations abroad.

Many people grew up from the cradle of the Vietnam Student Association and the Overseas Students Party Cell in France, such as Mr. Tran Anh Tuan (PhD in Aviation Materials and Structures Technology) currently working at the Viettel Research & Development Department; Mr. Vo Xuan Hoai (Master of Science & Technology, Master of Finance and Economics) currently working at the Research & Development Institute - Ministry of Home Affairs. Returning to the country, they joined the cause of building their homeland in different fields, but the bond that has and is still connecting them with each other and with the country and the Vietnamese people is the sense of dedication of a young generation, of those who have left and returned to respond to the call of their roots. That is also the good ideal that the Party advocates to arouse and encourage young people through the bridge of Party organizations among overseas students. Because, having an ideal in life means determining for yourself a destination, a place to return to - as Duong Ngoc Son, an international student at the Nantes Student Party Committee, France shared: "Being a party member to me is like the return trip of a round-trip ticket. Because no matter where I go, what I do, I always turn towards my homeland and country."

Thuc Anh