Late in the morning of November 5, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army. One of the issues that National Assembly deputies were concerned about was raising the retirement age of military officers.

The age limit for military service has reached an all-time high.

In the report on the expected reception and explanation of National Assembly deputies' opinions at the discussion session in the afternoon of October 28, the drafting agency of the Ministry of National Defense said that there were opinions of deputies suggesting to differentiate the age between male and female colonels and generals; and to stipulate a roadmap for increasing the age similar to Article 169 of the Labor Code.

According to the drafting agency, military officers work in many different specialized fields such as pilots, submariners, special forces, chemists... They must regularly directly command, manage, train, be ready to fight and fight in difficult and arduous conditions, units stationed on missions in remote areas, borders, islands...

Therefore, if the retirement age is increased to the same age as the retirement age under the Labor Code or the retirement age of police officers, it will not ensure that officers, especially officers in units with sufficient troops and ready to fight, are healthy enough to complete their tasks.

On the other hand, due to the structure and organization of the staff, the army still has to recruit military personnel every year to arrange and rejuvenate the team of officers at the squad level. If the age is increased compared to the draft law, it will cause congestion and surplus in the officer team.

The Ministry of National Defense affirmed that the draft law amending and supplementing this time raises the age limit for military service to the highest level ever compared to the provisions of the Labor Code.

"This amendment to increase the age limit for officers to serve in the army has been researched, scientifically calculated, and carefully evaluated by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense based on age increase options, and has received high consensus from agencies and units throughout the army," the drafting agency affirmed.

This not only preserves a contingent of officers with courage, capacity and experience, but also suits the nature, tasks, structure and organization of the army, and implements personnel policies; at the same time, it is consistent with the provisions of the law on labor and the law on social insurance.

Currently there is only 1 female major general officer, 2% female colonel officers.

Regarding female general and colonel officers, the Ministry of National Defense said that currently the entire army has 1 female major general officer (associate professor, doctor of medicine) and about 2% female colonel officers compared to the total number of colonel officers.

These female colonel-level officers mainly work in strategic agencies, academies, schools, scientific research centers, hospitals, cultural and artistic units and have high qualifications (Associate Professor, Doctor, Specialist II, People's Artist, Meritorious Artist), basically being eligible to extend their military service term by 5 years according to the provisions of the draft law.

The oldest female colonel is currently 13 people, 53 years old, so by 2029 it will be 58 years old, in line with the retirement age prescribed by the Labor Code.

The Ministry of National Defense also pointed out that since the establishment of the Vietnam People's Army, the army has only had 7 female general officers, including 4 PhDs and doctors (at its peak, there were 3 female general officers working together, currently only 1 is working).

Therefore, the draft law does not distinguish between men and women in terms of military service age and does not stipulate a roadmap to increase the maximum service age for female officers with the rank of colonel, which is consistent with reality.

In fact, the number of female officers is low (about 3% of the total number of officers), mainly working in agencies, academies, schools, hospitals, cultural and artistic units..., there are no female officers commanding combat units.

According to the roadmap for increasing the retirement age, the retirement age of female workers in 2024 is 56 years and 4 months, then increases by 4 months each year, to 58 years old in 2029, and 60 years old in 2035.

Currently, the age limit for active service of female officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel or lower (mainly officers with high professional qualifications: Associate Professor, Doctor, Specialist II..., specialized and specialized training) is still lower than the retirement age of female workers as stipulated in the draft law. Therefore, the drafting agency believes that it is not necessary to stipulate a roadmap for increasing the age.

Proposal to raise retirement age for military officers and female generals from 55 to 60 years old

The draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army proposes to increase the age of officers serving in the army according to military rank, lieutenant increases by 4 years, colonel increases by 1-4 years. General rank for women increases by 5 years to 60 years old.

Regulations that teachers can retire before age 55 will create privileges and benefits

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested reviewing the regulation that "teachers can retire before the age of 55 but will not have their pension deducted". This is because such a regulation would create "privileges and benefits" and contradict the recently passed Law on Social Insurance.