Beijing, 21-23 October 2025 — The 38th Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) convened under the theme “Transforming ODL for a Sustainable Lifelong Learning Society.” Dr. REN Youqun, Vice Minister of Education of China, attended the Opening Ceremony and delivered a speech.
Dr. REN Youqun, Vice Minister of Education, attended the Opening Ceremony and delivered a speech
Prof. Dr. Ali Muktiyanto, AAOU President, delivered a speech
Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, delivered a speech
Ms. Torunn Gjelsvik, Secretary General of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), delivered a speech online
It was pointed out that the Chinese government is committed to building a learning society by implementing a national digital education strategy aimed at creating a “ubiquitous and accessible lifelong learning system.” It strives to improve public services for lifelong learning and to expand learning scenarios across the board, while advancing the development of open and lifelong education. Going forward, China is ready to deepen all-round, multi-dimensional cooperation with all AAOU members to jointly promote the digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of education, establish a sustainable lifelong learning system and a learning society, and broaden high-standard educational openness and collaboration - thus contributing Asian solutions toward a more open, inclusive and sustainable lifelong learning society.
Dr. WANG Qiming, President of the Open University of China (OUC), delivered a keynote speech
Madam FAN Xianrui, Vice President of OUC, moderated the Opening Ceremony
The Conference explored the application of digital education technologies, the development of senior education and lifelong learning systems, innovative ODE models, quality assurance and international collaboration. Experts agreed that open education must proactively embrace new technologies, equip learners with future-oriented digital skills, and strengthen the joint development and sharing of high-quality digital resources to support the development of a ubiquitous and accessible lifelong learning system.
During the Conference, OUC was elected as the next AAOU President (2026 - 2028). The Conference launched the book on History of AAOU and announced winners of the AAOU Best Paper Award, Best Practice Award, Young Innovator Award and Meritorious Service Award. Two papers submitted by OUC received the Best Practice Award - Gold and Silver respectively.
Hosted by OUC, the 38th AAOU Annual Conference brought together nearly 300 presidents, scholars and educators from open universities of more than 20 countries and regions in Asia, Europe and North America.
By OUC