To thoroughly implement the work requirements for running elderly universities proposed by Comrade Huai Jinpeng, minister of the Ministry of Education, at the establishment of the Seniors University of China (SUC), and to further improve the construction of the national elderly university system, enrolment trials, and the implementation of the " Health Care and Preservation, Learning and Travel " project, the SUC organised a System Construction Seminar and " Health Care and Preservation, Learning and Travel " Project Acceptance Meeting in Chengdu on 24-25 March 2023.

Liu Chen, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the OUC (SUC), attended the meeting.

Liu Chen pointed out that, in the context of actively responding to the national strategy of dealing with an aging population and implementing the Healthy China strategy, it is necessary to deeply understand why a SUC needs to be established, why it should rely on the OUC to establish it, and the responsibility and historical mission behind it. It is also important to further clarify the "Five Reliances" of the construction of the SUC, which are relying on the advantages of the open university system, platform, resources, teaching staff, and research and internationalization. He emphasized that, based on the open university system, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of a comprehensive SUC system that covers all aspects of the elderly's needs, and truly achieve the goal of "bringing elderly universities to the doorsteps of the older adults." The initiative to establish a database of elderly education teachers, recruit full-time and part-time teaching staff, improve the management and service of teaching, and utilize digital technology to meet the diversified learning needs of the elderly should also be taken.

Feng Lian, secretary of the Party Committee of Chengdu Open University, introduced in his speech the specific measures taken by the school in focusing on the field of elderly education, and continuously improving the level of educational services around system construction and demonstration services, under the guidance of the OUC and the Chengdu Municipal Government, and the strong guidance of the Municipal Education Bureau. He stated that, in the next step, the school will take the opportunity to run the demonstration class of the SUC as a chance to further sort out and summarise relevant educational experience and rules, support the development of the SUC, and continue to promote the development of elderly education in Chengdu region.

At the meeting, Liu Caimei and Wei Peng, vice deans of the OUC School for Older Adults, reported respectively on "The Ideas for the Construction of the SUC System" and "The Enrolment Trials of the SUC". The relevant leaders of the participating branches and responsible persons for elderly education conducted in-depth discussions and exchanges on the above-mentioned content.

Huang Xingguo, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of Chengdu RTVU, delivered a speech at the project acceptance meeting of the " Health Care and Preservation, Learning and Travel " research and practice project of the OUC. The representative of the project team presented the concluding report of the project, further clarifying the development strategy of "strengthening and improving the elderly university, integrating and developing the 'Health Care and Preservation, Learning and Travel '". The team actively explored the development model of the " Health Care and Preservation, Learning and Travel " and emphasized the necessity of forming a sustainable development mechanism to ensure the leap-forward development of elderly education.

 

By OUC School for Older Adults