On September 22, 2014, the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation, Mr. Wang Mingang, visited The Open University of China (OUC). The Party Secretary of the OUC Li Ling, Vice President of the OUC Liu Chen, and relevant department heads held a discussion with Wang Mingang about the cooperation between Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation and the OUC.
Li Ling introduced recent developments at the OUC and extended his gratitude for the support of the Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation. Wang Mingang expressed his expectations for further cooperation between both parties in the field of distance education and both sides expressed their satisfaction with the current cooperation. After the discussion, Wang Mingang also visited the "The Deep Integration of Information Technology and Education: From China Central Radio and TV University to The Open University of China" history exhibition.
Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation was founded in 1982 by a number of well-known Hong Kong commercial and business personalities, including Siu Kei Lee, Henry Fok, Fong Yun Wah, Zheng Yutong, and KC Wong. Its motto is “nurture ourselves, nurture others. Its objective is to help China train up competent personnel to achieve modernization. It is a non-profit-making private organisation.
The "Senior Seminars for RTVU Presidents” programme gained financial assistance from HK Pei Hua Education Foundation in 2008. The programme aims to offer opportunities for newly appointed presidents of RTVUs at the provincial and municipal level to receive training on distance education, continuing education and other relevant skills in Hong Kong, enabling them to quickly learn the relevant theory and practice of distance education and actively participate in the cause of distance education. The programme is organized by the OUC (formerly China Central Radio and TV University), and run together with the University of Hong Kong School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE). Since 2008, the programme has been held in Hong Kong seven times, with a total of 405 newly appointed leaders of RTVUs participating in the training, including 163 RTVU presidents at the provincial and municipal level.
The training lasts four days, held mainly at the University of Hong Kong and the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). The training is conducted in various formats, including seminars, teaching visits, and group discussions. The training content mainly covers developments and trends in global higher education; the development status and trends of distance education; HKU SPACE’s school-running philosophy, practices and quality assurance mechanisms for continuing education; the principles, design and methods of online teaching at the OUHK; the Hong Kong education qualifications framework; and the school-running concept and vocational education practices in place at Hong Kong Vocational Training Council (VTC).
According to the survey conducted for each seminar, 90% of the participants were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the overall schedule for the seminar, and 90% believe that the seminar will be "very helpful" or "helpful" for their work. At the end of the training, the participants all submitted their personal experiences. They unanimously consider the seminar a good platform for them to gain a systematic understanding of the development of distance education and the school management situation of continuing education in Hong Kong. On the other hand, they also came away with a lot of inspiration for teaching concepts, management, and methods of continuing education and distance education in Hong Kong. This is of great help for those who are engaging in the field of distance education for the first time, enabling them to adapt faster to the role, and better manage distance and continuing education.
By Li Ruiqing and Yang Yongbo, the OUC