II. Daunting and glorious historical missions for open universities in the new era

Though the experiences described above are precious, it is still necessary to make innovations in running the university. Entering the new era and standing at the new starting point, open universities have embraced new opportunities and shouldered new missions.

Open universities (radio and TV universities) have shouldered a national mission since the day of their birth. In the beginning, they cultivated talented professionals for the reconstruction that was taking place at the time. Next, they assisted reform and opening up in order to promote equal access to education. Later, they explored the pilot registration of students to prioritise open education. Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, which is both “China’s new historical position for development” (Xi Jinping, 2017, p.10) and a new historical starting point for open universities to achieve new glory. In the new era and at the new starting point, open universities have once again been endowed with new missions.

1. The foundational mission of making China an educational power

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China called on society to build an educational power. China Education Modernisation 2035 explicitly stated that “China will achieve the general modernisation of education and become an educational power by 2035, making China a powerhouse in terms of education, human resources, and talented professionals.” If such goals are to be met, the modernisation of open education should go before that of education. Without the modernisation of education, there can be no education power. Therefore, both basic education and open education are the foundations for the construction of an educational power. Moreover, open education is the most basic foundation and the weakest weakness. Successfully running open universities is part of the effort to make up for and strengthen the weakest areas for an educational power.

2. The mission to be a bolster for the construction of an education system serving lifelong education for all

At the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, the key educational tasks were clearly defined as building an education system serving lifelong learning for all from the position of upholding and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics to modernise China’s system and capacity for governance. In order to build an education system serving lifelong learning for all, it is necessary “to promote the coordinated development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas, to improve preschool education, special needs education, and the guarantee mechanism that can make senior secondary education universally available, and to improve the coordinated development mechanism of vocational and technical education, higher education, and continuing education” (19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, 2019, p.26). Open universities are not only an important part of higher education with the new empowerment of vocational education but also the main force of continuing education. Therefore, an education system serving lifelong education for all can’t be built without open universities. Of course, open universities must also consciously integrated themselves into and positively serve the national strategy. Only in this way can open universities truly become an indispensable major bolster of the construction of an education system serving lifelong learning for all.

3. The mission to be the “national team of Internet Plus Education”

Internet plus education represents a major trend in education reform and development and is also the most effective way to develop more equitable and better quality education. Li Keqiang clearly indicated in the 2019 Government Work Report that is was necessary to “develop internet plus Education models and promote quality resource sharing (Li Keqiang, 2019, p.34). On 28 August 2019, at an executive meeting of the State Council, Premier Li Keqiang once again underlined the need to “promote internet plus education, to encourage various qualified entities to develop online education, and to set up an inclusive and open platform for vocational training and skill improvement” (Guangming Daily, 2019). The need to promote internet plus education is also stated in several documents of the Ministry of Education. As a body that has long been engaged in the profound integration of modern information technology and education, this is the time for open universities to seize this historical opportunity, to reconstruct the education ecology, to realise educational change, and to become the national team of internet plus education.

4. The mission to be the vanguard of internet universities

This is no doubt that open universities have turned from the past radio and TV era to the internet era. This is the outcome of the replacement of advanced communication means and the inevitability of the transformational development of open universities. Since their full transformation in 2012, open universities have energetically promoted the integration of the internet and related technologies with education, and have enthusiastically given play to the advantages of online education and artificial intelligence. This is in line with the new requirements of the fourth plenary session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. In the face of the new trend of regular universities making use of the internet and internet companies entering the education field, open universities can only get a foothold in the fiercely competitive field of higher education if they are resolved to explore the new internet plus university-related business types. Furthermore, only when open universities themselves become true vanguards of internet universities can they find the path to the future.

5. The mission to be a ballast stone for education “oriented to and suitable for everyone”

General secretary Xi Jinping said in his congratulatory letter to the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence & Education that “speeding up the development of more open and flexible education that is in line with people’s everyday lives and that is equally oriented to and suitable for everyone” (People’s Daily, 2019) is a requirement for education and also the specified development direction for open universities. Open university education is suitable for a large number of people, covers vast areas, provides flexible education methods, offers a complete range of specialties, and generates good benefits. Successfully running open universities extends and expands national education, significantly supplements walled school education, and focuses on the implementation of the guiding principles of the fourth plenary session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Successfully running open universities is something of a ballast stone stabilising the development of education “oriented towards and suitable for everyone.” It is a wise move with “small input but big output” that yields twice the result with half the effort.

6. The mission to be a fixed point of measurement for a more open and flexible education system

If a more open and flexible education system is to be built, then the rules of school education are not sufficient, and it is necessary to add colour to social education. School education with only walled classroom education is incomplete, and online education and education without walls are also necessary. Open universities are universities without walls engaged in online education, where the students can be young, middle-aged, or old people. They can learn full time or part time, they can learn for fun or to gain skills, and they can learn at home or abroad in a flexible and easy way. What open universities have built is “an online, digital, personalised, and lifelong education system” (People’s Daily, 2016), and they pursue the value that “open universities can always offer a course suitable for you.” In this sense, open universities are a fixed point of measurement in a more open and flexible education system.

7. The mission to accelerate the development of a learning society

Lifelong learning is an inexhaustible force for sustainable development and is a major source of harmony and progress. A learning society with lifelong learning for all basically symbolises “learning by all anywhere and anytime.” Over the last 40 years of operation, open universities and radio and TV universities have leveraged their own characteristics and advantages, encouraged people to strengthen learning, and guided the majority of the students to learn voluntarily. Meanwhile, with the constant improvement of information communication, the integration of internet plus education has been accelerated and the “six-network integration” model has been created as operation characteristics to make “learning by all anywhere and anytime” possible. Looking forward to the future, “A learning society for learning by all anywhere and anytime will be built with the help of one billion Chinese, enabling successful, effective, happy learning” (Chen Baosheng, 2017, p.342) through online education and virtual classrooms with the strong promotion of the nation and the persistent efforts of open universities.