Hubei Open University(Hubei OU) was officially inaugurated on the morning of 28 April 2021. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Xiao Juhua, vice governor of Hubei Province; Ju Chuanjin, vice president of the Open University of China (OUC); Lu Jun, deputy secretary general of Hubei Provincial People’s Government; Li Hong, deputy director and grade I counsel of Hubei Provincial Department of Education; Liu Yi, secretary of the Party Committee of Hubei OU; and Zhong Yuning, vice secretary and president of Hubei OU. The ceremony was presided over by Zhong Yuning.
In his speech, Liu Yi said that the university will fully implement the new development concept, advance open education and vocational education with its own unique features, and expand continuing education. It will seek the simultaneous development of academic and non-degree education, integrate online education with offline education, and combine the construction of university with that of the OUC system. It will also place equal stress on education and services and promote the transformation and quality improvement of the university. Hubei OU will make great efforts to promote comprehensive reform and build a new provincial university characterised by “brick and mortar university + management service platform + operation system.” It will highlight characteristics in school running, stimulate the vitality of the system, and make the university into an important force serving lifelong learning for all in Hubei and offering strong support for a skilled society, in order to create a first-class high-level open university in China.
Zhong Yuning presiding over the inauguration ceremony
Lu Jun read out The Approval of Hubei Provincial People’s Government on Renaming Hubei Radio and TV as Hubei Open University, which pointed out that after the name change, Hubei OU’s existing affiliations, management system, organisation level, and right to run academic and non-degree education remain unchanged. The university should take the opportunity of its renaming to accelerate transformation and development, further enhance its capacity for talent training, improve the quality of operation, and play a greater role in serving lifelong learning for all and the construction of a learning society in Hubei.
Li Hong pointed out that the inauguration of Hubei OU is a milestone event in the history of the university and will contribute to accelerating the construction of a high-quality education system in the new era. She hopes that Hubei OU will bravely shoulder its historical mission and make new and greater contributions to accelerating the modernisation of education and building a strong education province. First, she said that Hubei OU should firmly hold to the direction of running a university that serves the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Second, it should implement the fundamental task of building morality and cultivating people. Third, it should shoulder the responsibility of improving the lifelong learning system.
Ju Chuanjin pointed out that the inauguration of Hubei OU is an important measure for Hubei Province to implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, a great achievement in its implementation of the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan, and an important milestone event in the history of its reform and development. The name change marks a new starting point for the transformation and development of Hubei OU. The university should realise the “four transformations,” namely, from seeking quantity to strengthening quality, from a focus on qualifications to one on knowledge, from providing degrees to enhancing skills, and from prioritising online teaching to the integrated development of online and offline teaching. The OUC will work together with Hubei OU and other universities within the system to build the “four platforms,” that is, major platforms for lifelong and online education and platforms for flexible education and external cooperation.
The predecessor of Hubei Open University was Hubei RTVU, which was founded in 1979. Over the past 40 years, Hubei OU has made brilliant achievements. It has cultivated more than 800,000 application-oriented professionals who are able and willing to hold their positions. It has provided more than 10 million people with non-degree education and training services based on the characteristics of Hubei Province, which has effectively promoted educational equality and the popularisation of higher education, and made a unique historical contribution to the sustainable economic and social development of Hubei Province. At present, there are over 140,000 active students in open education and more than 10,000 students studying in higher vocational education in Hubei OU, which makes it the university with the largest number of students in the province. While providing more than one million people with non-degree education services, including community education, education for older adults, and social training every year, Hubei OU will take the opportunity of the renaming to promote transformation and development, serve and promote open education and the construction of a lifelong learning society from a new historical starting point, and build a new provincial new university characterised by “brick and mortar university + management service platform + operation system".
More than 170 people, including the heads of relevant departments of the OUC, leaders of related departments of Hubei Provincial Department of Education, party secretaries and presidents of radio and TV universities in cities (prefectures) of Hubei Province (or at municipal levels, branches, and colleges directly under Hubei Province), representatives of outstanding alumni, news media from inside and outside the province, members of the leading group of the Party Committee of Hubei OU, major responsible personnel from all units of the university, as well as retired employees, teachers, and students, attended the unveiling ceremony.
Written by Xie Pin; Photos by Zhu Huan, Xie Ping and Liujie, Hubei OU