On May 23, 2013, the annual military distance education meeting was held at Beijing Zongzheng Shahe Training Base. The meeting was attended by distinguished leaders and representatives from various military bodies and outstanding teaching centers. 186 of the attendees came from border and coastal defense teaching centers, including the Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia Military Commands, the Hong Kong Garrison, and the Nansha Islands Garrison. In addition, reporters from PLA Daily, and Force Management magazine were present at the meeting.
The theme of the meeting was “Build a Consensus, Cultivate Skills and Improve the Managerial Level of Distance Education for Military Personnel”. The meeting summarized the state of distance education in 2012 and formulated a work plan for the next stage of development.
Yang Xinhua, deputy minister of the Military Affairs Department of the General Staff, attended the meeting and gave a speech. He spoke about the significance of distance education for the development of military personnel, praised the work of the OUC Bayi School, and put forward clear requirements for teaching management, teaching quality, and security arrangements.
Zhang Yichen, dean of the Bayi School, gave a speech on “Building a Consensus, Performing Individual Duties, and Developing Distance Education for Military Personnel”. Vice Dean Wang Chunli gave commendations to 50 outstanding teaching centers and nine experts from the Bayi School. Zhang Yushe, assistant to the dean and director of the Teaching Affairs Department, summarized the overall state of teaching in 2012. Li Shangcai and Zheng Jun, deputy directors of the Teaching Affairs Department, trained managerial staff from teaching centers and tutorial stations in enrollment, teaching and examination management. Representatives from 66455 troop teaching center, 77110 troop tutorial station, 73122 troop tutorial station, and 96213 troop tutorial station spoke on behalf of 1,008 teaching centers nationwide, and shared their experiences and successes.
Since Bayi School was established in 2000, distance education has enjoyed a growing popularity among grassroots soldiers and officers. Enrollment has been growing for five consecutive years, reaching a record of 38% year-on-year growth. In 2012, the number of graduates exceeded 10,000 for the first time. At present, there are 1,008 teaching centers around the country. More than 70,000 military personnel from seven major military commands, and grassroots units from the Navy and Second Artillery Corps, are receiving training. Bayi School is the most comprehensive vocational training school for military personnel, characterized by a school-based distance education system designed specifically for soldiers and officers from the different armed forces. Up to the present, a total of 140,000 military officers have received training and more than 70,000 have obtained government-recognized diplomas and degrees.
Dong Pinghai, assistant to the president, presided over the opening ceremony. Attendees visited Bayi School’s distance education headquarters for military personnel in Beijing’s economic-technological development zone.
By Dong Pinghai, Yu Lanrui