Digital transformation in political theory training

During the first three years of the term (2020-2023), the Party committees under the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee organized seven in-person training courses to update political theory knowledge for grassroots cadres and Party members (Category 5), with over 1,200 participants. In June 2024, the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department piloted an online training course to update political theory knowledge for 250 cadres and Party members belonging to the Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies and Enterprises Bloc.

Based on the results of this pilot course, in September, the unit organized a second course for 900 cadres and party members from grassroots party organizations of district, town, and city party committees in the area.

Requirements arising from practical needs.

Over the years, Quang Tri has suffered considerable negative impacts from harmful and toxic information disseminated on the internet and social media. Authorities have intervened, detecting and addressing numerous cases. Party committees, organizations, and leaders have focused on dialogue with the people, businesses, officials, and party members to promptly understand their concerns and aspirations, and to resolve pressing and urgent issues.

The province has vigorously combated hostile and erroneous viewpoints, as well as harmful and toxic information, through nearly 2,000 community groups/fanpages on social media. However, in the long term, the province hopes to build a mechanism for filtering information so that each Party member and every citizen can proactively fight against and refute harmful and toxic information.

This also applies to the political theory training for cadres and Party members: it must be conducted in a way that regularly updates new knowledge, with a large number of participants and guaranteed quality.

The Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee currently has 49,820 Party members, of which more than 40,500 are grassroots cadres and Party members (Category 5). During the 2015-2020 term, over 7,000 grassroots cadres and Party members received political theory training and updated knowledge (reaching a rate of 18%). Analysis shows that the reason for the low rate of grassroots cadres and Party members receiving political theory training is due to the in-person classes, requiring students to study in a concentrated manner, which affects their professional work.

The remote location of their workplaces, coupled with travel and living expenses, poses a challenge for the trainees. Furthermore, the province faces a shortage of funding for organizing these training courses… Stemming from these difficulties and limitations, the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department is determined to create a breakthrough in the work of political theory training and updating new knowledge for cadres and Party members working at the grassroots level.

Based on the system for disseminating, training, and updating political theory knowledge for cadres and Party members on the internet, established by the Central Propaganda Department, the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department boldly proposed piloting the organization of online training courses on political theory and updating knowledge for cadres and Party members in category 5. One advantage is the successful implementation of digital transformation in the provincial Party committee's activities.

In this context, the "digital ecosystem" of the propaganda sector is built on three pillars: digital skills, digital tools, and digital culture. Professional activities have been digitized. The system of resolutions, Party documents, and Party history publications has been uploaded to digital infrastructure. Quang Tri also has experience in guiding international propaganda, specifically coordinating with the propaganda agencies of neighboring Laos through digital platforms.

With the support, assistance, and professional advice from the Central Propaganda Department, the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department "outlined" a pilot model for organizing online political theory training courses and updating knowledge for target group 5. Five grassroots Party organizations discussed and registered to participate in the pilot course, and simultaneously agreed on the principles, content of the course organization, and the form of examination and evaluation, including grading of trainees.

In June 2024, the standardized course materials for the political science course, with the domain http://quangtri.lyluanchinhtri.dcs.vn, went live. The website is designed to be highly compatible with computers and smartphones. The system includes the following main modules: Homepage, Knowledge-Professional Skills, Materials-Lectures, Tests, and Research-Discussion.

The website has a question bank and exam bank to meet the learning, review, and testing needs of students, and helps the course organizers monitor the learning, review, and testing progress of each student. The program content includes 9 topics and 150 multiple-choice questions that have been reviewed by specialized agencies of the Central Propaganda Department.

After reviewing several exam papers, we found that the content of the topics covered key issues of public interest. For example, there were theoretical questions about the revolutionary and scientific nature of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's thought on class liberation and human liberation… or content very relevant to life and current events such as economic sectors in a market economy; the nature of the culture we are building; the leadership methods of the Communist Party of Vietnam …

According to Doan Van Bau, Head of the Political Theory Department (Central Propaganda Department): During the process of the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee building this model, the specialized departments of the Central Propaganda Department closely coordinated to ensure that the content of the thematic topics closely followed theoretical and practical issues.

The trainees took a test to assess the results of their political theory training.

The effectiveness of breakthroughs

The Propaganda Department of the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee has compiled and studied feedback from grassroots Party organizations receiving the pilot model and from trainees. Most feedback has been positive. Ms. Do Thi Ly, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies and Enterprises Bloc, stated: From the beginning of the term (2020-2025) until now, despite great efforts, the Party Committee of the Bloc has only organized three training courses for 728 comrades out of a total of 2,687 cadres and Party members belonging to category 5 of the Party Committee.

With online learning and testing, the Party Committee will complete the theoretical training and knowledge updating for all 1,959 cadres and Party members in category 5 this year, saving a significant amount of money.

The course organizers gathered feedback from 50 students from five grassroots Party committees participating in the pilot course. All students commented that this learning and testing format created enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge and provided more information compared to previous political theory training methods.

Trainee Nguyen Minh Quynh, from the Quang Tri Telecommunications Party Committee, shared: "I found the lecture content to be systematic, scientific, and relevant to practice. The language was concise and easy to understand, making it easy for trainees to absorb the material. The new topics included forecasts that closely matched current events, making them quite engaging."

Other trainees highly appreciate the online learning format because it's convenient, allowing them to study anytime, anywhere, and is very effective. Many trainees have formed Zalo groups to exchange and discuss during their self-study, creating a lively learning atmosphere. Trainees gain a lot of useful knowledge and information to meet their work requirements. Units with trainees located far away find it easier to organize classes, reduce costs, and avoid losing employees.

According to Nguyen Hong Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: The Party Committee has 44 trainees currently working in districts and towns, and 5 trainees in the mountainous area of ​​Dakrong district. Despite being quite far from the city, all trainees were able to take the exam smoothly. Learning and taking the exam online helped save costs, class organization, and manpower.

Ho Dai Nam, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, affirmed that the outstanding advantage of the model is that it allows trainees more time to deeply study the content of the topics, resulting in a higher and more comprehensive level of knowledge acquisition compared to traditional in-person classes. The assessment results are objective, fair, and substantive. The cost savings in organizing the classes benefit both the learners and the organizers.

This model also does not limit the number of participants. With this groundbreaking solution, the Standing Committee of the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee will achieve its goal of ensuring that all cadres and Party members receive at least one training session to update their knowledge of political theory during their term.

Comrade Nguyen Trong Nghia, Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, and Head of the Central Propaganda Department, affirmed: The leadership of the Department is very interested in and supportive of the model of political theory training for cadres and Party members via the internet implemented by the Quang Tri Provincial Party Committee. In the coming time, the Central Propaganda Department will direct localities and units to replicate this model.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/chuyen-doi-so-trong-boi-duong-ly-luan-chinh-polit-post831321.html