Avoid the situation of 'real degrees, fake knowledge' in political theory training

(Baonghean.vn)- Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang - Director of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics emphasized the need to strengthen the management of political theory students to ensure quality, avoiding the situation of 'real degrees, fake knowledge'.

In order to improve the quality of the staff in the period of 2011 - 2020, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee have focused on leading and implementing the dissemination, study and research of the policies and resolutions of the Central and the province on this work; concretizing the policies and resolutions with action plans and programs and issuing many documents directing agencies and units to implement. Every year, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee issues a training and development plan for the province.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Presenting the work of training and fostering provincial cadres in the past time, comrade Nguyen Xuan Son said: in the period of 2011 - 2016, the province has trained 6,445 comrades at the elementary level, 8,446 comrades at the intermediate level, 1,086 comrades at the advanced level, and bachelor's degrees in political theory.

In terms of expertise, the province has trained 5,258 university-level graduates, 965 master's and specialist I graduates, and 151 doctoral and specialist II graduates.

The province has also provided professional training for 54 senior experts, 496 senior experts, and 3,943 experts...

Regarding the Provincial Political School, the school's organizational structure includes a board of directors, 3 functional departments and 4 specialized departments. The school has 76 staff members, including 45 lecturers. In terms of qualifications, there are 44 masters, 15 bachelors, 5 PhD students; 24 people have advanced political theory qualifications, 21 people have intermediate political theory qualifications.

From 2008 to the end of June 2017, the Provincial Political School coordinated and directly trained and fostered 350 classes with 26,604 students of various types. Research and practical summary work was promoted with 44 scientific topics at the faculty and school levels; 6 provincial topics and projects from 2008-2016.

Agencies, units, departments, branches, sectors of the Fatherland Front and provincial-level organizations have completed the compilation of the Party history and traditional history. By the end of 2016, 19/21 districts, cities and towns in the province had completed the compilation of the local Party history; 324/480 communes, wards and towns had completed the research, compilation and publication of the Party history.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, many opinions were raised regarding the quality, efficiency, and operating model of district-level political centers, the allocation of training targets for advanced political theory for Nghe An province, especially the criteria for Propaganda officers to be sent to study advanced political theory; the situation of non-local schools cooperating to train cadres but lacking quality control...

Speaking at the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh affirmed the province's interest and determination in improving the quality of training cadres. However, the province's greatest concern and worry is the issue of building a cadre and lecturer team at the Provincial Political School.

The school only trains cadres, but its participation in formulating policies and major issues for the province has not yet reached the desired level. “The Political School must lay the foundation for major local policies,” Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh emphasized.

With that viewpoint, the Provincial Party Secretary said that there must be a suitable remuneration mechanism to be able to have leading experts in the work, including those who have retired. On the other hand, the province is calculating to be able to recruit and transfer high-quality staff for the school, especially stipulating a certain percentage of staff must go through the grassroots.

The Provincial Party Secretary also shared the view that the school's permanent staff should be used in moderation, while inviting experts, the Provincial Party Standing Committee, leaders of Party committees, and the Provincial People's Committee to participate in teaching; as well as increasing practice for students during the learning process.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh also proposed that the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics work with the Ministry of Science and Technology to propose a separate research program on political theory, with the participation of the provincial political school system.

Regarding the apparatus, functions and tasks of the Provincial Political School and district-level political centers, the Provincial Party Secretary requested the Provincial Party Committee's Organizing Committee to focus on research; at the same time, the Provincial Political School proactively makes proposals so that after the results of the 6th Central Conference (term XII) are available, the province will absorb and perfect them to quickly apply them in practice.

Regarding the preparation for the Competition for Excellent Lecturers of Political Schools held at Nghe An Provincial Political School in October 2017, the Provincial Party Secretary said that the province has been focusing on preparing for the competition to be successfully organized.

On behalf of the working delegation, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang highly appreciated the regular attention and direction of the Standing Committee, the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, and the Provincial People's Committee on the work of training cadres, as well as acknowledged the opinions at the meeting.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang also said that the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics will pay close attention to flexibility in considering candidates sent to study advanced political theory.

Lecturers of the Provincial Political School and students discuss during class. Photo: Archive

Regarding training content, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang emphasized that the curriculum is compiled in the spirit of reducing class time, increasing field trips, studying each subject and taking exams in that subject, the learning content must be the most essential; increasing invitations for leaders to report on specific topics; at the same time, it requires that political theory lecturers must always innovate themselves, the program and curriculum are just the framework.

The head of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics also proposed strengthening management of learners to ensure quality, avoiding the situation of "real degrees, fake students", "teachers return words to teachers", and learners copying, being passive, and lacking creativity.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang also requested to build a team of cadres at the Provincial Political School that is equal to the task, including increasing the number of cadres and lecturers at the grassroots level; at the same time, he also agreed that the number of students in the intermediate political class will depend on the quality of the facilities, not on the current rigid number of students.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang also expressed his gratitude to the province for actively supporting the preparation for the organization of the competition for excellent lecturers of political schools held in Nghe An. On the side of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, he pledged to actively coordinate to synchronously deploy and organize the exam to achieve the highest results.

Thanh Duy