In order to implement the spirit of a speech made by General Secretary Xi Jinping on 13 April 2018 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hainan Special Economic Zone, the No. 12 document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Opinions on Further Promoting the Development of Community Education by Nine Ministries and Departments including the Ministry of Education, and with an aim to coordinating the development of community education in Hainan province and accelerating the construction of a lifelong education system, Hainan Community Education Steering Centre and Hainan Community Education University were formally established on the afternoon of 27 March 2020.
Xing Kongzheng, deputy director of the provincial Department of Education, Kong Lingde, secretary of the Party Committee of the Hainan Branch of the Open University of China (OUC), and President Wen Qiang attended the unveiling ceremony.
At the unveiling ceremony, it was stressed that extensive development of community education in urban and rural areas and the construction of learning communities are basic steps in building a learning city and learning society in Hainan Province, an important part of accelerating the development of continuing education and building a lifelong education system in the Province, and a key part of the transformation and development of the Hainan branch into Hainan Open University. The vigorous development of community and elderly education can help to compensate for the shortage of education, greatly improve the quality of people in Hainan Province, and provide strong social and intellectual support for Hainan’s transition to a free trade island. Under the leadership and guidance of the Provincial Department of Education, the Hainan Branch will make every effort to successfully carry out the work of the community education steering centre and its office, assist the Provincial Department of Education in the overall guidance of community education in Hainan Province, accelerate the construction of community education organisations across the whole province, improve the community education system, and do a good job in fields such as theoretical research, curriculum development, and the instruction and training of cadres and leaders engaged in community education across the whole province. Together, these efforts will help to promote the development of community and elderly education in Hainan Province, drive the construction of a learning society, accelerate the construction of a lifelong education system, and better serve Hainan’s transformation into a free trade port.
At the unveiling ceremony, it was pointed out that the Hainan Branch, as the first provincial community education university in China, should undertake four key responsibilities. Firstly, it should strengthen its school-running capacity, carry out non-academic continuing education targeting community personnel in both urban and rural areas, and serve lifelong education and the construction of a learning society. Secondly, it should accelerate the construction of demonstration bases for community and elderly education at the Longhua campus and the southern demonstration base for elderly education set up by the OUC at the Wuzhishan campus and gradually give play to the demonstrative role of the bases, promoting the construction of community and elderly education bases in the province. Thirdly, it should make full use of the advantages of the school-running system and the TV-based night schools aiming at getting rid of poverty and becoming rich, explore the establishment of a school-running system that integrates the development of TV-based night schools and community education in Hainan Province, and gradually create rural community education tutorial centres on the basis of TV-based night school tutorial centres across the province’s villages, so as to better support the poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation work of the local government. Fourthly, it should strengthen the development of curriculum resources for community and elderly education, innovate the community education model, strive to create features and brands for Hainan community education, and run education for the convenience of the people.
After the unveiling ceremony, a symposium on community education was held.
By OUC Hainan Branch