In the forum “Improving the quality of Party development work among students” held in Nghe An on May 17, Mr. Le Dinh Ly - Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Board stated the reality: The work of building and developing the Party among high school students in the province is showing many difficulties and limitations. Although the number of new student Party members increases every year, it is still quite modest compared to the number of excellent members recommended for admission.
According to leaders of some high schools in the province, the biggest problem lies in the age of admission to the Party. According to the Party Charter, at the time the Party cell considers admission, the person joining the Party must be 18 years old (calculated by month) or older. However, since July, 12th graders have graduated from school, so students born in June onwards will be at a disadvantage in the consideration of admission to the Party compared to those born from January to the end of May. This reality leads to a large difference in the number of excellent students considered for Party sympathy training classes and the number of students admitted to the Party each year.
Teacher Hoang Nhu Lan - Party Cell Secretary, Principal of Con Cuong High School said: “In 2022, the school had 53 students studying for the Party but only admitted 8 students. The rest did not meet the age standards (under 18 years old) at the time of admission consideration, although they were all students with outstanding achievements. The school was forced to transfer their records to the locality, but the time they spent living in the locality was too short, so not all of them were admitted (In 2022, only 1 student was admitted to the local Party, who was the former Deputy Secretary of the School Youth Union); most of them were introduced to the new Party organization (the universities and colleges where they studied) for further monitoring.
In Dien Chau district, in the period of 2020 - 2022, 56 students were admitted, including 2 female students of Catholic origin (at Nguyen Du High School Party Cell and Quang Trung High School Party Cell). Mr. Truong Cong Suu - Deputy Head of the Organization Board of Dien Chau District Party Committee said: The number of students attending Party sympathy classes is large, but the number of admissions is limited because most of them do not meet the age requirement at the time of admission. Some students have good academic results but do not have outstanding achievements (certificates of merit) in union activities and vice versa. Besides, there is still a situation where a number of excellent students have been admitted at high school, but during the period of monitoring probationary party members, they go abroad to study but do not transfer party activities, do not participate in activities so their names are removed.
Regarding this issue, Ms. Hoang Thi Hai Yen - Deputy Head of the Organization Committee of Vinh City Party Committee said: The students are young so their awareness of the regulations and procedures related to Party work is not much. Therefore, some party members who are students when they have just graduated or have just changed jobs or moved their residence often violate the regulations of the Party Charter, leading to not being able to officially transfer to the Party and having their names removed. Some students at high schools have studied for the Party but are not qualified in terms of age, after graduating from high school, they do not connect or contact the school's Party Committee to complete the procedures to introduce them to the locality or the universities and colleges where they study so that they can continue to monitor and strive.
Mr. Dau Duc Anh - Deputy Chief of Office of Vinh University Party Committee also said: Many students who are party members after graduating do not have a stable job or are on probation, applying for jobs at many different agencies, organizations, and units at home and abroad (especially in private enterprises, foreign enterprises... without a party organization), or are far from their permanent residence...; the issue of party activities and transferring party activities encounters certain difficulties. In 2022, the Standing Committee of Vinh University Party Committee removed the name of 1 official party member due to not participating in party activities and paying party fees for more than 3 consecutive months.
Another difficulty for party development work in colleges and universities is that currently schools train students based on credits (students are only connected through courses), individualization in the learning process will lead to difficulties in organizing collective activities and general movements, affecting the training results of students. In addition, the role of party organizations in monitoring and nurturing elite masses also faces certain limitations.
In the term 2020 - 2025, the number of students admitted to the Party of Vinh University is on a downward trend (151 students were admitted in 2020; 139 students were admitted in 2021; 101 students were admitted in 2022). Explaining this decline, Mr. Dau Duc Anh - Deputy Chief of Office of the Vinh University Party Committee said: in the period 2020 - 2022, in addition to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, some activities of the Party Committee, the school and the Youth Union - Association had to change the form of organization or be implemented slowly compared to the plan... the restructuring of the school, changes in structure, reorganization of units and credit-based training also more or less directly affected the movement activities of students.
In mountainous, remote and disadvantaged areas, ethnic minority students are not a prominent factor. Some students have been taught Party sympathy and have a good history of striving, but because of their criminal records (having parents who violated the law), they encountered many difficulties when completing their application. On the other hand, "due to difficult economic conditions, many students have decided that after graduation they will go to work far away, work as freelancers and not go to university or college, so they do not have the desire to strive to join the Party", said teacher Dang Van Bang - Principal of Muong Qua High School (Con Cuong).
In addition to the above difficulties, some opinions say that the activities of the Youth Union and Student Association at colleges and universities today are not rich, diverse, and attractive, so they have not really attracted students to participate. The work of grasping ideological developments, providing information and orienting public opinion among union members and youth is sometimes not timely and effective. Meanwhile, a part of students are still vague about political awareness, influenced by distorted arguments and extremist articles on the Internet, leading to "dry Union, bland Party" with manifestations such as: Fear of union activities, fear of training; not wanting to strive to become a party member; having a pragmatic lifestyle, paying little attention to the situation of the country; being lured and incited to participate in illegal activities...
In the discussion with the topic "Current situation and solutions for party development work among high school students", Ms. Chu Minh Anh Tho - Secretary of the Youth Union of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted said: On the students' side, many students do not have the right awareness, have not determined the right motivation for joining the Party, falling into a state of "indifference to the Party, lack of Youth Union, distance from politics". Some students intend to study abroad, although they have quite good academic achievements, outstanding extracurricular activities, and organizations, but do not have the goal of striving to join the Party. They feel that studying, working, and advancing in a foreign environment does not require joining the Party, fearing obstacles and difficulties in applying for scholarships to study abroad or settle in developed capitalist countries...
In addition, the Party Committees of universities and colleges also pointed out the reality: Some students in the field of engineering and technology have the mentality that after graduating, they will work for private companies, foreign companies or go abroad to work, where there is usually no Party organization, so they are not interested or do not have the desire to strive to join the Party.
In reality, despite many efforts, the work of developing party members among students in the province is still not commensurate with reality, also stemming from the fact that some party committees and school boards have not really paid attention to the work of training and developing young party members among students.
At Que Phong High School, this school year is the third year that the school's Party Committee has implemented the work of recruiting students into the Party. Compared to the number of students in the school (more than 1,000 students), the rate of students admitted to the Party is still quite low (in the 2020-2022 school year, the school recruited 3 students, in the 2021-2022 school year, it recruited 4 students).
Teacher Nguyen Tien Trung - Vice Principal of Que Phong High School said: The school's source for Party membership is quite abundant. However, in recent years, the membership has been quite modest for many different reasons. Among them, the school's Party Committee has not really focused on directing strongly to strengthen the development of Party members among students, but often gives more priority to teachers because the school has a large number of young teachers. From the above limitations, the school has strengthened the direction of Party membership among students, building specific standards, paying attention to two criteria: good academic performance and enthusiasm in Youth Union activities. In the 2022-2023 school year, the school has 6 students trained and admitted to the Party.
In Thanh Chuong district, there are 7 high schools. From 2020 to 2022, the whole district admitted 220 party members who are students. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Trong Anh - Head of the District Party Committee's Organization Board: Not all schools do a good job of party development. Some schools only admit a few party members each year, or even no party members at all, such as Cat Ngan High School (2022). Some schools have a decreasing trend, such as Nguyen Sy Sach High School in the 2021-2022 school year, only admitted 1 outstanding student, out of the assigned target of 25 students.
Talk about“"Current situation and solutions for developing party members who are union members and youth in the new situation", Mr. Le Van Luong - Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union said: Party development work in schools is still focused on key schools, schools in the public system, schools in the city and some lowland districts. Meanwhile, non-public schools or schools in mountainous districts still have many limitations. The Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union also pointed out that one of the barriers causing difficulties in recruiting new party members in high schools is that some party committees, school boards, teachers, and parents of students do not clearly understand the importance of training and introducing outstanding union members for the Party to consider and recruit. Some teachers even require students to focus on studying culture, do not create conditions for them to participate in school union activities, many students want to join the party but do not have the opportunity to show their abilities and practice themselves...
Practice shows that the work of developing party members among students has a strategic, long-term significance; therefore, it requires deep, complete, and comprehensive awareness; strong leadership and direction; and close coordination of local Party committees and organizations, and school units in the political system to remove difficulties and obstacles.