A press conference on the “Top 10 News Stories in 2015 Distance Education for Non-commissioned Officers” was recently held at the Open University of China’s (OUC) Bayi School. The Director of the National Non-commissioned Officer Distance Education and Training Coordination Group Office and Dean of Bayi School, Zhang Yichen, as well as heads of Bayi School and every faculty member attended the conference.

Bayi School Associate Dean Wang Chunli stated at the press conference that Bayi School's distance education for non-commissioned officers has achieved significant results through 15 years of development. Distance education has made its due contributions in the development of the army's combat effectiveness, digitization, and modernization, and is well-recognized and affirmed by officers. It has become a successful model for integrating military and civilian development. In the past two years, army officers have grown especially passionate about distance education. Every year, new officer admissions surpass 20,000 individuals, with over 15,000 students graduating. To date, Bayi School has had more than 200,000 students enroll and more than 120,000 student graduate.

Wang Chunli said distance education for non-commissioned officers is a noble and stable career, and also a promising means to develop learners. She hoped that Bayi School students would cherish the opportunity and study hard. At present, our country and army are undergoing comprehensive reforms to achieve President Xi Jinping’s dreams for China and the army. The depth and scope of reforms are unprecedented. Facing this new situation and tasks, Bayi School’s distance education for non-commissioned officers is bound to generate more opportunities and challenges. Wang Chunli hopes that in the future all officers will follow the overall deployment of the military commission, guard against arrogance, work hard, and use their respective positions to make their due contributions to Bayi School and distance education. 

The “Top 10 News Stories in 2015 Distance Education for Non-commissioned Officers” include: Bayi School Issues 4th "Five-year plan"; Enrollment and Graduates of Distance Education for Non-commissioned Officers Hit Record High; 15th Anniversary of Bayi School & the 2015 Annual Meeting of Distance Education for Non-commissioned Officers Held Successfully in Jiujiang; Troops Management Magazine and Bayi School Send Teaching Staff to Xisha Island; OUC Subsidizes 28,579 Bayi School Graduates’ Tuition to a Tune of RMB 37.64m; Bayi School Organizes Press Interview Delegation to Take Study Tour of North Shaanxi; First Batch of 14 Non-commissioned Officers Win Pengcheng Financial Aid from Bayi School; Bayi School's "MOOCs" Well Received by Officers; Military Officers of Inner Mongolia Participate in Distance Education and Receive Full Tuition Subsidies; Bayi School Launches "Dream Building Plan" to Set up a Bridge for the Employment of Retired Officers.

By Zeng Jianhua, Bayi School