Young men performing military service in 2023 - Photo: NAM TRAN
NTN, a second-year student at FPT Polytechnic College in Ho Chi Minh City, recently passed the military draft. On February 26, N. will join the army. N. submitted his student identification card but was not granted a deferment from military service.
Join the army while studying
N. graduated from grade 9, studied both vocational training and general education (intermediate level) at FPT Polytechnic College. In two months, N. will complete the general education program and take the high school graduation exam. If she passes the high school graduation exam, N. will continue to study at the college at this school.
When the call for military service came, Mr. N. brought a certificate confirming that he was a student but was not allowed to postpone military service.
N.'s military enlistment order clearly states that N. is a student at FPT College (intermediate level).
This is not an isolated case. Representatives of some colleges and secondary schools said that many secondary school students of their schools perform military service while studying secondary school because they are not eligible for temporary deferment from military service.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Ly - Principal of Ho Chi Minh City International College - said that it is true that the Law on Military Service does not have any provision for deferment of military service for secondary school students. Therefore, when called for military service, they must comply. At school, there are also some cases of students being called for military service.
Similarly, Mr. Tran Phuong - principal of Viet Giao Secondary School - said that most of the school's students who perform military service have graduated from high school and are studying secondary school. Secondary school graduates who study both general education and secondary school rarely receive a call-up order before completing their studies.
The law should be adjusted.
According to the 2015 Law on Military Service, there are 7 groups of citizens who are temporarily deferred from military service, including those studying at high schools, universities, and colleges.
According to point g, clause 1, article 41 of the Law on Military Service on temporary deferment of military service, citizens are granted temporary deferment of military service when studying at a general education institution; being trained at a full-time university level at a university, or at a full-time college level at a vocational education institution during the duration of a training course of a training level.
Thus, secondary school students at vocational education institutions are not eligible for temporary deferment from military service.
Mr. Nguyen Dang Ly believes that high school and college students are still students and need to be temporarily deferred from military service so that they can complete their studies and avoid dropping out. "To do that, the law must be amended," Mr. Ly said.
According to Mr. Ly, his school recruits 9th grade graduates to study at secondary and college levels. If on schedule, students will graduate from secondary school at 17 years old and from college at 18.5 years old.
"In some cases, students did not graduate on time, the school confirmed the students and the locality also created conditions for them to complete the program. Meanwhile, there were many cases where students who had finished their studies at another school transferred to my school. When the call for military service came, they had to comply because they had been deferred while studying at the other school," Mr. Ly added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Phuong emphasized that the State is promoting the division of students after secondary school. Therefore, many students after graduating from grade 9 will switch to vocational training while studying culture.
"Intermediate level is also a training level in the national education system and needs to be treated equally like other levels. Intermediate level students also need to have their military service deferred like other levels. To do this, there needs to be guidance or law amendments," Mr. Phuong proposed.
Postponing military service for high school students is not appropriate.
In March 2023, responding to voters' opinions on postponing military service for secondary school and vocational students, the Ministry of National Defense said this was not appropriate.
The Ministry of National Defense cited the provisions of Article 41 of the 2015 Law on Military Service. Military service is only temporarily deferred for citizens studying at general education institutions, full-time university students, and full-time college students during the duration of a training course of a training level.
On the other hand, to ensure fairness, citizens who have graduated from college or university and have had their military service deferred will have their military service age extended to 27.
The regulation on temporary deferment of military service for citizens who are studying at college or university level is completely consistent with social life and people's aspirations in the current period, while also meeting the legitimate aspirations of the right to study and work according to regulations.
Besides, it creates high-quality human resources, necessary for the cause of industrialization and modernization to develop the country, while ensuring sufficient quantity and quality of citizens joining the army.
The Ministry of National Defense informed that the current average deferment rate nationwide is over 56%. Therefore, expanding the deferment rate to include citizens studying in secondary schools or vocational training is not suitable for the current situation.
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