On 5 September 2024, a four-member delegation led by Marie-Thérèse Sombo Ayanne Safi Mukuna, Minister of Higher Education of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), visited the Open University of China (OUC).
This visit underscores another partnership between African nations and OUC during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The delegation was received by Fan Xianrui, a member of the Party Committee and vice president, along with Liu Xuanxuan, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission at OUC.
Liu Xuanxuan extended a warm welcome to Minister Sombo and her delegation on behalf of OUC. She provided an overview of OUC's development history, educational philosophy, and future plans. Liu emphasised OUC’s readiness to foster dialogue and collaboration with DRC’s higher education sectors, focusing on practical cooperation in areas such as educational technology innovations, educational model advancements, and pioneering management practices in education. She highlighted OUC's commitment to jointly building and sharing open and distance education resources, promoting digital transformation of education, and exploring new avenues for win-win cooperation. Additionally, Liu expressed her hope for increased exchanges between the two sides in faculty and student visits, academic research, and other areas.
Minister Sombo commended China's rapid advancements in education, particularly its significant achievements in the digital transformation of education, which are highly regarded by the DRC government. Under the directive of the DRC’s national leaders, the delegation traveled a great distance to explore OUC's operational experiences, aiming to leverage modern technologies to broaden educational access, and promote educational equity through distance and continuing learning initiatives in the DRC. Minister Sombo also expressed her wish to strengthen cooperation with OUC in areas such as faculty and student exchanges, joint training programmes, curriculum development, and online education.
Cui Huan, deputy director of the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) under the Ministry of Education, accompanied the delegation. Heads of various departments at OUC, including the Party and Administration Office, Academic Affairs Department, Experimental College, Department of Digitalisation, and College of International Education, participated in the event.
By College of International Education, OUC