Improving Cultural and Sports Institutions: Foundation for Sustainable Rural Development

After more than 10 years of implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Development, My Duc district has seen progressive changes in its rural outlook. The material and spiritual life of local people has improved, and the rural area has given a big facelift.

My Duc district has experienced significant progress in transforming its rural outlook

As the last district of Hanoi to meet new rural development criteria, after just one year of efforts to raise the quality of criteria, My Duc has continued to make remarkable achievements in rural construction, agricultural development and farmers' livelihood improvement.

Notable achievements

Dai Hung commune was recognized to meet advanced rural development criteria in 2023 and immediately embarked on building a model rural area in 2024. According to Vu Van Chuy, Chairman of the Dai Hung People's Committee, the exemplary new rural development is based on two areas, namely education and training, and healthcare. As a result, all three schools in the commune have met national standards, with Dai Hung Secondary School reaching Level 2 national standards. The commune has achieved universal preschool education for five-year-old children and Level 3 universal primary and secondary education.

In healthcare, Dai Hung Clinic was newly built on a site of nearly 2,100 square meters and is now operational. It is equipped with complete infrastructure and specialized rooms as guided by the Ministry of Health. The clinic provided medical checkups and treatments, contributing to better healthcare for local residents.

An My commune, which is carrying out the model new rural development program, has focused on education and training. The commune has allocated resources to upgrade and renovate schools and upgrade infrastructure and teaching equipment and worked toward meeting national school standards. Notably, An My has built a "smart village" model in Kinh Dao village, home to over 440 households and 1,700 residents. The commune set up a community digital transformation team tasked with informing, guiding and supporting villagers in using digital technologies and applications.

Tran Quoc Tuan, Chairman of the An My People's Committee, said: Thanks to the smart village model, all households in Kinh Dao village now use smartphones with internet access. More than 80% of residents at the working age have electronic payment accounts used for transactions such as money transfers and withdrawals, tuition payments, power and water bill payments, online shopping, and fees for online public services. Many households have also installed home security camera systems.

Do Trung Hai, Standing Deputy Secretary of the My Duc Party Committee, said, despite numerous challenges, in 2024, the district fulfilled all 18 socioeconomic targets allocated by Hanoi, featured by the State budget revenue of over VND1,250 billion, fulfilling over 230% of the target assigned by the city. The district also had three more communes accredited to satisfy the advanced new rural development criteria and four communes certified to achieve model new rural development criteria. Promoting this momentum, My Duc strives to have three more communes recognized to fulfill model new rural development criteria and two more communes certified to meet advanced criteria in 2025.

Improving cultural and sports institutions

Currently, 90% of households in My Duc are recognized as “cultural families,” 119 villages have earned the “cultural village” title, and three residential groups maintain their cultural status. 42% of residents participate in regular physical exercises while nearly 34% of households are considered sporting households. Communes and townships established 25 more sports clubs, bringing the total to 470 sports clubs across the district. My Duc sports teams have participated in the city's sports competitions and won many medals in athletics, traditional martial arts, Vovinam and Taekwondo.

Huong Son commune has a large central sports area spanning nearly 47,000 square meters. Every hamlet has its own cultural houses furnished with seating, audio-visual equipment, lighting equipment, newspapers, books, volleyball courts, badminton courts and outdoor fitness equipment. The commune also maintains four arts performance clubs and 12 sports and fitness clubs. Nguyen Thi Chinh, a resident of Yen Vi village (Huong Son commune), said: “Thanks to the government’s investment in building a new cultural house and stadium, our villagers are very excited. After a hard day’s work, they gather here to exercise or engage in fitness and cultural activities.”

Tran Xuan Thang, Director of the My Duc Culture, Science and Information Department, said: My Duc district currently has 126 out of 129 villages and residential groups equipped with cultural houses. The remaining three have been approved for investment by the My Duc People’s Committee. Once operational, cultural houses, stadiums and sports and fitness areas have proven to be highly functional. Besides public holidays and festivals, these facilities are regularly used for community meetings, Party meetings and union meetings. Village propagandists convey Party policies and directions and State laws and policies to local residents. Cultural houses also preserve and exhibit traditional local cultural values, significantly contributing to the all-people grassroots movement of building a cultured lifestyle.

Dang Van Canh, Standing Vice Chairman of the My Duc People’s Committee, said: The district will continue to mobilize resources to complete its cultural and sports institutions and further expand cultural and artistic movements in both depth and breadth in the coming time. The new rural development process has accelerated the improvement of cultural and sports institutions, and laid the groundwork for the robust development of public culture and sports movements. As a result, more residents actively engage in local patriotic emulation movements, contributing to improving the quality of life and building a more prosperous and civilized homeland.

By Minh Ngoc, Vietnam Business Forum