Arriving at Regiment 165, Division 312, we attended a political study session of Company 1, Battalion 4, where Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thieu, Political Commissar of Company 1, gave a lecture on "Building and perfecting the Socialist Rule of Law State of Vietnam" to non-commissioned officers and soldiers who will enlist in 2022. From a seemingly dry, rigid, and unattractive issue, under the analysis and explanation of Political Commissar Nguyen Van Thieu, the content of the lesson was "softened", becoming lively, attractive, and engaging for the troops. With practical examples of current events, taking advantage of the language advantage, Mr. Thieu closely combined the presentation with PowerPoint slideshows to illustrate each issue. In each content, Thieu cleverly opened up for the troops to exchange and discuss.

It is known that in the first days after graduating from school and returning to his unit to work, Nguyen Van Thieu encountered many difficulties in political education work, especially because he did not have much experience, skills, and teaching methods. However, with the training and support of his superiors and teammates, along with his spirit of progress and eagerness to learn, after a short time, Thieu confidently taught political lessons to his soldiers, and was highly appreciated by his superiors and teammates. The proof is that in the 2023 Corps-level Political Teaching Cadre Competition held last May, Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thieu won first prize and was commended by the 1st Corps Command.

Talking about political education work, Lieutenant Nguyen Van Thieu shared his experience: "Through teaching political education to soldiers, I try to analyze and give very brief examples, close to the unit's tasks; do not analyze long "academic" words and let soldiers take notes when really necessary, so that soldiers can easily understand and remember the lesson content."

Leaders of the 1st Corps and delegates visited the exhibition of books and initiatives at the conference summarizing Directive 124 of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee and the Project "Innovation in political education work at units in the new period" organized by Division 312.

To improve the quality of political education at the unit, from 2021, the Division has directed the approval of political lesson plans at the Regiment level once a quarter so that the Regiment commander and the political agency can grasp the quality and train subordinate cadres. One of the highlights of the 312th Division in recent times is that it has directed the Political Department to research and synthesize information on the situation of discipline and law enforcement, the ideological situation, public opinion, and mood of the entire army and the Corps issued by the Propaganda Department, General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army; the Military Training Department, General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and the Corps to build into a video clip that acts as a bulletin to disseminate to the company level.

These newsletters have brought about practical results, having a positive impact on the psychology and consciousness of each soldier in the process of performing their duties. At the same time, the Division and its units and squads focus on training cadres through training, modeling, modeling, and leading to gain experience; training skills and methods for preparing lesson plans, preparing electronic lectures, and skills and methods for teaching political education of political cadres. Strengthening inspection, observing classes, observing lectures, and commenting on teachers implementing basic political education content at grassroots units to impart experience to cadres.

Lieutenant Colonel Dang Van Thuong, Chief of Political Affairs of Division 312, affirmed: “Implementing Directive No. 124-CT/QUTW dated March 31, 2011 of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee “on strengthening leadership and direction of political education work at units in the new period” and the Project “Innovation of political education work at units in the new period”, the political agency has advised the Party Committee, Division commanders and guided agencies and units to thoroughly grasp and strictly implement directives, resolutions and instructions from superiors on political education work. The political agency focuses on directing and guiding from the planning stage and implementing the political education plan for subjects in units in the Division. Since then, political education work has always been carried out proactively, scientifically and with many innovations and creativity by agencies and units”.

With diverse and rich implementation methods combined with effective solutions, the 312th Division's political education work has gone into depth and substance, and the quality of the unit's political education has been constantly improved over the years. In 2022, the results of the political education test of the subjects in the Division were 100% satisfactory; of which more than 80% were good and excellent. This is an important basis for improving the overall quality and combat strength of the unit, contributing to the 312th Division receiving and completing all assigned tasks well.

Article and photos: DAO NGOC LAM