According to the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), a reporter from People’s Daily stated that China's Lifelong Education Platform, with over 6.8 million registered users, has provided services for nearly 60 million visits to lifelong learners from 200 countries and regions worldwide.
This platform has achieved significant results in contributing to the development of a learning-oriented society through digitalisation.
Lifelong education resources have been greatly enriched. The Lifelong Education Platform now boasts over 1.03 million resources, accumulating more than 1.1 million learning hours. Special programmes such as "Lectures by Competent People" and "Smart Elderly Assistance" have been launched, making available around 80,000 high-quality electronic micro-lectures. An online learning special zone for the "National Reading Campaign" has released over 10,000 electronic books. Additionally, "caring mode" and "elderly-friendly mode" have been introduced to cater to special groups, creating a more accessible and friendly learning environment.
The educational system of Seniors Universities has seen significant improvements. Since its inauguration in March 2023, the Seniors University of China (SUC) has established 55,000 grassroots learning points, serving 22.14 million elderly students across the system. Additionally, the National Education Platform for the Elderly has been launched, offering 436,000 courses with a total duration of 4.089 million minutes to over 2.35 million registered users. This platform provides learning support to 57.08 million individuals.
"Moving forward, the Lifelong Education Platform will continue to promote initiatives such as AI-empowered lifelong learning, constructing off-campus classrooms by leveraging social resources, and enhancing digital literacy. Our aim is to advance the in-depth integration of modern information technology with education and foster the sharing of high-quality educational resources. The SUC will strive to establish a new-style university for the elderly, characterized by clear positioning, distinctive educational operations, openness and sharing of resource, and flexible learning methods. Our goal is to contribute to building a learning-oriented society and serving the ageing population," said a representative from the MOE.
Reprinted by OUC News Network from Page 2 of the People’s Daily Overseas Edition dated 8 April 2024