The 15th Party Congress of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics: Promoting tradition and continuing the glorious mission in the new era of development

Professor, Dr. NGUYEN XUAN THANG
Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council

The Congress took place at a time when our Party was implementing strategic decisions of historical significance, bringing the country firmly into a new era of development - Vietnam’s era of national rise. The Congress carried high expectations and determination, continuing to promote the glorious tradition of the Party School named after Uncle Ho, affirming the role, position and special political responsibility of the Academy towards the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation, successfully carrying out the tasks assigned by the Party, the State and the people.

1. Promoting glorious traditions, inheriting development achievements, successfully completing the Resolution of the Congress for the 2020-2025 term

Over the past 75 years of establishment and development, Nguyen Ai Quoc Party School - Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics - has always been associated with each step of growth with the historical stages of the Vietnamese revolution. Right from the first training courses in 1949, the Academy has received attention and direction from President Ho Chi Minh, who set out the mission of "Learning to work, to be a human being, to be a cadre. Learning to serve the Union, to serve the class and the people, to serve the Fatherland and humanity. To achieve the goal, one must be diligent, frugal, honest, upright, impartial and selfless". That sacred instruction has become the guiding principle for generations of cadres, lecturers and students of the Academy in the cause of training and fostering cadres of the Party. From the years of the resistance war to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland today, the Academy has trained and fostered hundreds of thousands of leaders and managers for the political system, making important contributions to the victory of the revolutionary cause and the cause of renovation, integration and development of the country.

Today, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics has become a national center for training and fostering mid- and high-level leaders and managers of the Party and the State, and is also a leading center for political theory research, playing a core role in providing scientific arguments for the formulation of Party and the State guidelines and policies. In recognition of its great contributions to the revolutionary cause, the Academy has been awarded many noble awards by the Party and the State (Ho Chi Minh Medal, Gold Star Medal, Labour Hero title, etc.). The Party Committee of the Academy has been assessed for many years as a clean, strong Party Committee, typical of pioneering and exemplary.

Promoting the glorious tradition and inheriting the development achievements of many terms, in the 2020-2025 term, the Party Committee of the Academy has excellently completed the assigned tasks, achieving important and comprehensive results, including bright and outstanding points.

The Party Committee of the Academy has resolutely led and directed the renovation of training content, programs, and methods in a modern direction, linked to practice. The motto "good teaching, good learning, good practicing" has been thoroughly implemented and concretized by many synchronous solutions. The Academy has proactively updated and introduced new theoretical and practical issues of the country into lectures; at the same time, flexibly adjusted the training form to suit the situation (such as promptly switching to online form during the Covid-19 pandemic). Thanks to that, the quality of advanced political theory training of the Academy has been constantly improved, especially in offline classes. Short-term training courses for leaders and managers at all levels have also focused on updating practical content and renovating teaching methods. The Academy's lecturers have actively applied modern teaching methods, promoting the initiative, creativity and practical experience of students, thereby improving the effectiveness of learning. The work of testing and evaluating students' learning outcomes is tightened to ensure substance.

Promoting the role as a model, core, and locomotive in the system of Party Schools and cadre training schools nationwide, the Party Committee of the Academy has advised the Secretariat to issue and effectively implement Regulation No. 11-QD/TW dated May 19, 2021, on standard political schools. To date, more than 20 political schools have been recognized as meeting standards, and many training programs and curricula have been fundamentally renovated, meeting the needs of standardizing the team of political theory cadres nationwide. National excellent teaching competitions have been successfully organized, strongly promoting the emulation movement of good teaching and good learning in the entire system of political schools.

Under the close, focused, and key leadership and direction of the Party Committee, the theoretical research and practical summary work of the Academy has achieved many new developments, closely linked to the requirements of national construction, development, and protection of the Fatherland. The Academy has implemented many key national and ministerial-level scientific programs, focusing on urgent issues raised by new realities. In particular, research results are increasingly close to life, directly serving the renovation of training and fostering content, providing scientific arguments for the formulation of major policies and guidelines of the Party and the State, especially contributing to the drafting of the 14^th National Party Congress Documents.

The Party Committee of the Academy has always focused on and directed the work of protecting the Party's ideological foundation to be closely integrated into both training and scientific research activities. Educational content on Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh thought, and the fight against "peaceful evolution" is regularly updated in the curriculum of all classes. The Party Committee of the Academy has led and directed affiliated academies, institutes, and faculties to strengthen the supplementation and integration of the content of fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints into lectures, improving students' capacity to recognize and "resist" the plot of "peaceful evolution" of hostile forces. At the same time, the Academy's team of experts and lecturers actively writes articles on press and media forums, directly fighting on the ideological and theoretical front. In particular, the Academy has successfully organized 04 political contests on protecting the Party's ideological foundation, which have had a wide spread in society, promoting the role of the "flagship" in protecting the Party's ideological foundation, contributing to defeating all sabotage plots of hostile forces, reactionaries, and political opportunists.

The work of researching and compiling the Party's history has been promoted with many works being appraised and published, including the series "History of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (1949-2024)"; "History of the Party Committee of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (1957-2025)" along with dozens of biographies and conference proceedings on typical leaders of the Party and the Vietnamese revolution. These works not only contribute to making the golden history of the Party more glorious, including the proud pages of the Party Committee of the Academy, but also contribute to educating the masses, Party members and generations of cadres and students of the Academy about revolutionary traditions and ideals.

Together with the entire Party and the entire political system, in recent years, the Party Committee of the Academy has paid special attention to digital transformation, especially promoting digital transformation in training, fostering, scientific research and administrative management. Since 2019, the Party Committee of the Academy has issued Resolution No. 43-NQ/DU on promoting digital transformation at the Academy until 2030, with a vision to 2045, setting out specific targets and tasks to build a model of "Smart Academy". Up to now, digital transformation at the Academy has achieved important results: digital infrastructure has been invested, initially shifting management and operation activities to a digital environment; online classes and online seminars have been widely deployed; digital databases of textbooks and documents have been initially built; information portal systems, websites and social networks have been effectively used to propagate and disseminate knowledge. The Academy also held a launching ceremony for the “Digital Education for All” movement to improve digital skills for staff, lecturers and students throughout the system (April 2025). In particular, the Academy has completed the Project of Building a Smart Academy, creating an important foundation for integrating modern technologies (such as big data, artificial intelligence) into administration, training, scientific research... towards building a model, modern Party School. These steps show the determination of the Party Committee of the Academy in constantly renovating and keeping up with the national digital transformation trend.

Effectively implementing the Party Committee's policy on encouraging renovation, the Academy's international cooperation activities have been increasingly expanded and deepened. Many international cooperation programs and projects have been signed and implemented, notably the activities of the Center for International Knowledge Sharing (CIKS), the Vietnam - Australia Center (VAC), and Project 621, helping to significantly improve scientific research capacity and staff training quality, and expand cooperative relations with many international partners. The work of organizing staff, planning, finance, scientific information, press, publishing, administration, logistics, and investment in facilities (especially the system of lecture halls and dormitories at the Central Academy and its affiliated academies) has achieved many remarkable advances. Grassroots democracy has been implemented in a disciplined manner, creating solidarity and consensus within the organization. Emulation and reward work has been carried out publicly, transparently, and substantially. The special emulation movements towards the 75th anniversary of the Academy's tradition have created a new atmosphere, new motivation, spreading strongly among all cadres and party members.

The achievements have created a solid foundation for the Party Committee of the Academy to be proud and confident in entering a new stage of development, and are an important premise for the 15^th Congress of the Party Committee of the Academy to continue to propose breakthrough policies and solutions to meet the increasingly high requirements of the cause of renovation, integration and national development.

2. Decision No. 214-QD/TW and Conclusion Notice No. 46-TB/TW of the Politburo - Breakthrough in organizational arrangement and development strategy of the Academy

A highlight of the past term was the implementation of Decision No. 214-QD/TW dated December 28, 2024, of the Politburo on the functions, tasks, and organizational structure of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. According to Decision No. 214-QD/TW, the Academy was supplemented with many new functions and tasks after receiving the Central Theoretical Council; the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts; the Scientific Council of Central Party Agencies and merging with the National Academy of Public Administration. This merging demonstrates the strategic vision of the Politburo to unify the focal point for training in political theory and state management, avoid overlap, and improve the effectiveness of training and fostering cadres for the political system.

After the merging, the size and structure of the Party Committee of the Academy have undergone important changes. The new organizational structure of the Academy now includes 9 functional units, 16 research - teaching - information - publishing institutes and 6 affiliated academies. The affiliated academies are spread across the country, including: Political Academy Region I (Hanoi), Region II (Ho Chi Minh City), Region III (Da Nang), Region IV (Can Tho), Academy of Journalism and Communication, and Academy of Public Administration and Management (headquartered in Hanoi, branches in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang).

Implementing Decision No. 214-QD/TW, the Party Committee and Board of Directors of the Academy quickly stabilized the organization, issued regulations on the functions and tasks of new units and consolidated the leadership and management team, ensuring smooth operations, building a harmonious coordination charter; promoting the spirit of solidarity, unity, for the common good, forming a common culture of the Party School, thereby promoting the combined strength of the entire system. By February 2025, the Party Committee of the Academy was also transferred directly under the Party Committees of the Central Party agencies - in accordance with the new position of the Academy. The implementation of Decision No. 214-QD/TW has created a new driving force, helping the Academy to change dramatically; the apparatus is streamlined, operating more effectively; the resources of cadres and party members have increased in both quantity and quality; the scope of activities has been expanded, creating conditions for the Academy to enhance its influence and better fulfill its assigned political tasks. This is a bright spot showing the proactive and decisive spirit of the Party Committee of the Academy in concretizing the Central Committee's resolutions on restructuring and streamlining the apparatus. The experiences drawn from the merging and consolidation process at the Academy will contribute to common practice, especially when many Party and State agencies are restructuring and streamlining their staff in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW and related conclusions.

In addition, the 13^th Politburo approved the Development Strategy of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics to 2030, with a vision to 2045 (Conclusion Notice No. 46-TB/TW dated October 18, 2024). This is a long-term orientation document, clearly defining the guiding viewpoints, goals, and key tasks for the Academy to develop to meet new requirements. The development strategy highlights the viewpoint of building the Academy on the basis of inheriting traditions and constantly renovating, upholding the glorious mission and great responsibility assigned by the Party and the State; the Academy is an agency directly under the Party Central Committee, under the direct and regular leadership of the Politburo and the Secretariat; building the Party Committee of the Academy to truly become a pioneering model in Party building work, gathering a team of exemplary cadres, lecturers and scientists of the Party; At the same time, constantly expand international cooperation, enhance position and prestige in the region and the world.

The strategy identifies important milestones for the Academy in 2030 and 2045. Accordingly, by 2030, the Academy strives to maintain and promote its role as the country's leading center for training and fostering mid- and high-level leaders, managers, and political theory scientists of the Party and the political system; develop the Academy into a leading national center for scientific research on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thought, a core agency in research and consulting on the formulation of guidelines and policies of the Party and the State; a center for research on political science, leadership and management science, rich in identity, modern, integrated, and prestigious domestically and internationally. These goals demonstrate the determination to bring the Academy to new heights at the time of the 100^th anniversary of the Party's founding, worthy of the position of "The Party School named after Uncle Ho" in the new era.

With a vision to 2045, when celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country, the Academy aims to become a pioneering and leading model in training and fostering leaders, managers at all levels and political theory researchers of the Party and the political system; a national center for scientific research on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought; strategic policy advice for the Party and the State; research on political science, leadership and management science; with a high position and prestige in the region and the world. Successfully achieving these goals will be the Academy's direct contribution to the goal of making Vietnam a developed, high-income, socialist-oriented country by 2045.

To realize the above-mentioned goals, the Academy's Development Strategy has set out key tasks and solutions, especially: fundamentally and comprehensively renovating the content, programs, textbooks and teaching methods in a modern direction, linking theory with practice; improving the quality of theoretical research, summarizing practices and policy consulting; reviewing and perfecting mechanisms and legal regulations on functions and tasks, continuing to arrange and consolidate a streamlined and effective organizational structure; building a team of cadres and lecturers with sufficient qualities, capacity and prestige, equal to the tasks; strengthening international cooperation; promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in all aspects of activities, building the Academy into a "Smart Academy"; building a clean and strong Party Committee of the Academy in all aspects.

Along with the direction speech of General Secretary To Lam at the Ceremony of Celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the tradition of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (1949 - 2024), on September 17, 2024, it can be said that Decision No. 214-QD/TW and Conclusion Notice No. 46-TB/TW of the Politburo have opened up major orientations that the 15^th Congress of the Party Committee of the Academy needs to concretize into an action program for the term 2025 - 2030, so that the Academy can continue to develop more strongly in the new period.

3. The 15^th Congress of the Party Committee of the Academy - Determined to realize the aspiration of development and advancement

The draft Political Report submitted to the 15^th Congress of Academy Party Committee, term 2025 - 2030, has identified the following goals: Building a clean, strong, comprehensive, exemplary, united, democratic, disciplined, and developed Party Committee of the Academy, successfully completing its goals and tasks by 2030; leading the development of the Academy to become a pioneering model in training and fostering mid- and senior-level leaders and managers, cadres of political theory science, administrative science, ideological work, press, and communications of the Party and the political system; a national center for the study of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought; providing strategic policy advice to the Party and the State; researching political science, leadership science, administrative science and public administration, ideological work, press, and communications; rich in identity, modern and integrated, with a high position and prestige in the region and the world.

With the spirit of renovation, aspiration to rise up and high political determination, in the 2025 - 2030 term, the Party Committee of the Academy identifies key tasks to comprehensively improve leadership capacity, in order to successfully implement assigned political tasks, while continuing to build a strong, united, pioneering and creative Party Committee. In particular, the "key of the key" tasks include:

(1)- Leading to improve the quality, renovate and strongly and effectively develop the training and fostering of cadres; in which special attention is paid to perfecting the system of regulations, rules and training and fostering processes in a synchronous and unified manner, in line with the new overall organizational model of the political system, especially the two-level local government model; focusing on building new, modern, diverse, practical training programs, suitable for each leadership and management position; improving the quality of university and postgraduate training; expanding international cooperation; contributing to building a contingent of cadres at all levels with sufficient qualities, prestige, and equal to the tasks, meeting the increasingly high requirements of the cause of national construction, development and defense of the Fatherland.

(2) - Leading to continue promoting renovation in scientific research in depth, contributing to building a strong political theory science, closely linked to practice and practically serving the work of training and fostering cadres, planning the Party's policies and guidelines and the State's policies and laws; continuing to promote the pioneering role of the Academy in protecting the Party's ideological foundation, fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints; improving the quality of research work, summarizing the Party's history, practically celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the glorious Party. In particular, closely coordinating with the Central Theoretical Council in theoretical research activities, summarizing practices, especially important summary projects of the Party such as summarizing 100 years of the Party's leadership of the Vietnamese revolution, summarizing 40 years of implementing the Platform for national construction during the transition period to socialism in 1991, etc.; in cooperation, theoretical exchange with communist parties and ruling parties in the world and carrying out special national scientific research programs.

(3)- Leading the comprehensive digital transformation work, actively implementing the "Digital Academy" model, focusing on directing the synchronous modernization of the database system on students, lecturers, lesson plans, textbooks, digital libraries, etc., to serve the management and knowledge development work. Ensuring seamless data connection throughout the Academy system, from the Central Academy to affiliated Academies, provincial and municipal political schools, as well as between the Academy and central and local departments, ministries, branches to share data, effectively serving the work of training, fostering, and researching political theory. Strongly applying artificial intelligence (AI) in management, administration, supervision, and operation activities; building a "paperless office" model, improving work processing efficiency, saving time and costs, towards a modern, transparent, and effective administration.

(4)- Leading to develop the Academy's staff and lecturers; build a team of staff and lecturers with renovative thinking, keeping up with knowledge and skills in modern leadership, management, and administration, capable of effectively applying artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching, research, administration, and operation. Pay attention to nurturing the young generation of staff; overcome the shortage of leading experts; pay special attention to nurturing and promoting talents, developing a team of lecturers capable of working in an international environment, meeting high academic standards. Build a team of staff and lecturers with strong political will, pure moral qualities, steadfast ideology, worthy of being Party School staff and lecturers - those who inspire ideals, intelligence and aspirations to contribute to generations of leaders and managers in the entire political system.

(5)- Building the Party Committee of the Academy to be clean and strong in all aspects of politics, ideology, ethics, organization and cadres. Strengthening revolutionary ethics education, building a contingent of exemplary, pioneering cadres and party members who are self-disciplined, practice ethics and lifestyle. Strictly implementing the principles of democratic centralism, self-criticism and criticism, maintaining solidarity and unity within the entire Party Committee. Renovating methods and improving the quality of Party cell activities. Promoting the exemplary responsibility of cadres and party members, especially the exemplary responsibility of leaders. Strengthening inspection, supervision, and prevention of corruption, wastefulness, and negativity. Renovating propaganda and mass mobilization work in a practical and effective direction, best meeting the legitimate interests and aspirations of cadres, party members, civil servants, students, and workers. Strengthening administrative reform, standardizing procedures within the Party Committee, promoting digitalization in leadership, direction, and operation. Comprehensively improving the leadership capacity of the Party Committee of the Academy in the new term, truly exemplary in political mettle, moral qualities, and spirit of renovation, worthy of being the "Party Committee of the Central Party School".

The 15^th Congress of the Party Committee of the Academy opened a new page in the development history of the Academy. The success of the Congress is not only measured by the documents or resolutions passed, but also by the excitement, firm belief and aspiration to reach new heights spreading among all cadres and Party members of the Academy.

The goals and the road ahead require the persistent efforts of each cadre and party member of the Academy in renewing their thinking and working style, improving their qualifications, and better meeting the requirements of assigned tasks. Each party committee and party cell of the Party Committee of the Academy needs to concretize the Congress Resolution into a practical action program, associated with its functions and tasks.

A new belief and new spirit are spreading out. All cadres, party members and students of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics need to devote all their efforts and intelligence, unite with one heart, and be determined to successfully organize the 15^th Congress and successfully implement the Resolution of the 15th Congress, contributing worthily to the success of the Congress of the Party Committees of Central Agencies and the 14^th National Party Congress. Promoting the glorious tradition, with a strong desire to rise up, the Party Committee of the Academy will certainly successfully complete all tasks, accompanying our Party and our people on the path of building a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, prosperous, civilized, and happy Vietnam, steadily moving towards socialism.