On 22nd June 2018, Jilin Radio and Television University (RTVU) convened a conference on open education for the elderly. Over 60 people participated in the conference, including relevant leaders and experts from the Open University of China (OUC), the Department of Education of Jilin Province, the leaders of Jilin RTVU, branch schools from each city (region), and leaders responsible for elderly education, community education, and non-degree training in RTVUs at county level.
The conference was aimed at fully implementing the spirit of the documents released by the State Council, the Ministry of Education, and the OUC. Furthermore, it aimed to spare no efforts to boost (non-degree) educational work for the elderly in Jilin and actively contribute to transforming from a radio and television university to the open university.
The conference pointed that the development of education for the elderly is a national policy requirement and an effective part of actively responding to the ageing population. The key focus of education for the elderly in Jilin is using remote technological means to carry out open education for the elderly. The conference emphasised that RTVUs in Jilin province should clarify their responsibilities, maintain system collaboration, rely on systematic school-running and the advantages of the online platform, and further boost open education for the elderly. It should establish a non-profit, inclusive university for the elderly that combines online and offline study, and gradually extend open education for the elderly to the neighbourhoods and communities so that it can provide better services for the study and living of the elderly.
Xie Laiyi, director of the Department of Business Development and General Management Office of the Open University for Older Adults, gave an interpretation of the theory of open education for the elderly and relevant national policies from the perspective of the Open University for Older Adults. Related personnel from the certificate educational promotion centre of the OUC School of Vocational Education and Training gave business trainings with the topics “The development model for non-degree education to enhance job skills and education level” and “Project implementation and management to enhance skills and education level”.
Focusing on the topics of education for the elderly and the state of community education, Jilin RTVU, Baishan RTVU, Panshi RTVU, and Shuangliao RTVU exchanged experiences. Delegates from Zhonghaihuarong Group shared case study about the “Snail Time overseas study tour centre.” The principals of the School of Social Work of the provincial RTVU and the open school for the elderly delivered speeches on how to accomplish education for the elderly and community education. They proposed that it should adhere to a theory of school management that prioritises “non-profit, intellectualisation, professionalisation, and inclusiveness” and rely on Jilin RTVU to construct a training platform for open education for the elderly and construct a modern open university for the elderly with abundant resources, standardised management, and an intelligent platform.
The participants visited an elderly care industrial park called Boyuan Xiangzhi in Jilin and attended the opening ceremony of the second session of the health cultural festival for elderly people in Jilin province. At the festival, Zhang Dasong, former deputy secretary general of Jilin province People’s Government and president of Social Welfare and Services for the Elderly Association of Jilin province; Lu Lin, vice president of Jilin RTVU; and Liu Xingdong, chairman of China Boyuan Group, launched the open university for the elderly’s enrolment work. At the opening ceremony, the relevant persons in charge of the open school for the elderly made a statement on open education for the elderly related to the establishment of the Xiangzhiyuan campus. The establishment of the Xiangzhiyuan campus is inline with the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, actively dealing with the issue of the ageing population and accelerate the development of services for the elderly. It will provide a platform for the elderly to realise their dreams of studying in university.
The health cultural festival also launched a project to help the disabled. The special education college of Jilin RTVU enrolled its first disabled student. The attendees visited Northern Lake Elderly Care Centre and learned the new model of modern home-based care for the elderly.
By Jilin RTVU