On a day in early winter, villagers gathered attentively in the Cultural Square of Wushi Township, Huangshan District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province.
The book Driving Lifelong Learning: Interview with CPC Party Secretaries or Presidents of China’s Open Universities on Transformation and Development of Open Universities planned by Distance Education in China Journal and published by OUC Publishing & Media Group was officially released.
A chapter in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) noted the need to “invigorate China through science and education and develop a strong workforce for the modernisation drive”, highlighting education in the new era as the foundational and strategic pillar of comprehensively building a modern socialist country.
According to the seventh national population census, the number of people aged 60 and above in China has already reached 264 million, accounting for 18.70% of the total population.
Since its establishment in 1979, the Open University of China (OUC) has had a focus on offering training in rural areas throughout the country, with the aim of promoting development in these areas.
Recently, the project “Fostering Digital Competency, Building Re-Employment Capacity, and Enhancing Well-being for Older Adults in the Digital Economy” for international exchanges and cooperation as approved by the 2022 Budget and Management Committee of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) with a fund of $140,531.
“I can hardly imagine life without the University for Older Adults,” said Liu Shuqin, a 62-year-old student of the university, part of the Open University of China (OUC). She signed up for a calligraphy class recently, after having finished a painting class. “I plan to get enough credits to obtain a diploma. You're never too old to learn!”
In October 2021, a book published by the Open University of China Press (OUC Press) entitled Beyond Distance Education: Cutting-Edge Perspectives on the Future of Global Open Universities received a lot of attention from higher education institutions in the UK and has been added to the libraries of several universities.