Back to October 2004, the PLA Naval Arms Command Institute (NACI) that was just renamed and restructured from Guangzhou Naval Academy five months earlier applied, on its own initiative, to the general headquarters/departments of the PLA through the Navy to participate in the teaching appraisal of the PLA in 2007.

In February 2006, the general headquarters/departments of the PLA formally issued a document confirming that the institute could participate in the teaching appraisal of the PLA in 2007, thus sounding the clarion call throughout the institute to march toward the goal of getting fully prepared for that.

While stepping up their efforts to raise their teaching quality from day-one of applying for joining the teaching appraisal so as to justify their application, the whole institute was in the meantime engaged in another open-end tough battle of continuing to deepen the teaching reform and making endeavors to train qualified personnel for troops after the transformation.

The institute organizes investigation teams to go down to the troops to learn the primary requirements of the middle-level commanders of the five major arms of the Navy, in order to provide authentic reference to hammering out the plan of cultivating qualified personnel.

To give prominence to the combined training of various arms, the institute has regulated the functions of different departments, combined surface ship tactical command with that of submarine and aviation troops, and centralized the management of the scattered cadet teams. The post-adjustment discipline layout has not only boosted the connection of various arms, but has also enhanced the administrative and teaching management of the cadets.

The institute has also conducted a range of teaching innovations on how to ensure that the students they turned out will meet the requirements of the troops: the institute and troop units conduct "joint assessment" of the cadets, the teaching of some courses is separated from examination, students will start study in the institute with their problems and achievements, to name but a few. All these innovations have achieved noticeable results.

(PLA Daily June 8, 2007)