On 24 November 2021, the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Strengthening Work for the Aged in the New Era” was released. The Opinions put forward for the first time the need to include education for older adults in the lifelong education system.

It also set out the need to make preparations for the establishment of the National University for Older Adults by relying on the Open University of China (OUC) and to build a platform for the sharing of national education resources and public services.

The OUC established the University for Older Adults (UOA) on 28 January 2015. Inheriting the genes of the OUC’s distance education, it has insisted on linking the OUC educational system and coordinating social forces to positively explore new ways of serving education for older adults using Internet Plus. Therefore, the supply of education resources for older adults has continually expanded, and the path for the development of education for older adults has been broadened. The OUC has made remarkable achievements in leading its educational system to promote the implementation of strengthening and improving the University for Older Adults.

Study centres on the doorsteps of older adults

The OUC has always adhered to its own educational system. Throughout China it has 45 branches, about 1,000 prefectural-level branch campuses, and nearly 2,000 county-level work stations. It is the world’s largest integrated educational system covering both urban and rural area.

The OUC has also built an educational system for education for older adults by relying on the advantages of its system. To date, provincial open universities for older adults have been built in 30 branches, and study centres for education for older adults have been set up in 216 prefectures and prefectural level cities, 899 counties and county-level cities and districts, 6,856 townships and neighbourhoods, and 46,698 villages and communities. The number of registered users on the online platform is now around 6.30 million people. 100,000 offline classes have been launched, attended by over 5.73 million students.

Favourite course resources for older adults

The OUC has brought together 380,000 minutes of high-quality e-learning resources in nine categories suitable for older adults. The university has compiled the Catalogue of Elderly Education Resources, integrated around 400 themed courses, and offered course learning for older adults through its UOA learning network.

A series of courses on ageing in China recorded by the OUC is open to the public. It is the OUC’s hope that everyone can learn about the state of ageing in China and understand older adults in the new era and new situation.

The OUC has answered the call of the nation and carried out the “use smart technology to help older adults” activity. In order to bridge the digital gap with older adults, the UOA has offered the “life schools” series of courses, with content covering a wide range of fields, such as smart phones, digital photography, and practical English, satisfying the needs of older adults.

Moreover, the OUC has planned degree education for older adults in response to the call to realise the degree dreams of older people. Curriculum system certificates suitable for older learners are designed in line with their learning characteristics by making course modules based on credits. To date, 20 majors or learning orientations in seven categories have been designed.

Multi-terminal learning environment for older adults

To date, the UOA multi-terminal learning platform built by the OUC has offered more than 30 million learning support service sessions.

After online registration opened, older adults showed the same enthusiasm as university students in terms of choosing their favourite optional courses. If they were not quick enough to register for the courses they wanted, they would even ask their children to help.

Many older adult students have become accustomed to checking the OUC UOA WeChat official account every day.

The OUC UOA WeChat official account

The resource sharing platform for universities for older adults affiliated to China’s state organs constructed by the OUC in cooperation with the National Government Offices Administration (NGOA) offers nearly three terms of online teaching and learning support to retired senior officials from all departments and commissions. More than 50% of the users on the platform are active, and the course satisfaction rate has reached over 94%.

Various forms of learning support for older adults

In 2020, the UOA coordinated with the OUC system and launched the “Happy Learning and Covid-19 Prevention” joint activity, opening up 31 learning platforms free of charge. The “Happy Learning and Covid-19 Prevention” public welfare class brought together a total of 41,000 courses. The “Happy Learning Live Streaming” series of courses received 9 million page views via various learning platforms.

In 2021, the UOA made the Weigongcun campus a physical study centre. Throughout the year, about 1,000 services have been given to older adults, offering nearly 60 courses in total.

In a written interview with the older adults studying a modelling course, a journalist from China Daily said, “The modelling course offered by the UOA has attracted many female students. They want to make better themselves while taking care of their families and doing housework.”

The OUC also offers family history courses and happiness courses, encouraging older adults to play a positive leading role in carrying on family traditions.

Furthermore, a learning committee has been established at the Weigongcun campus, and older volunteers have been invited to manage the university, making “grey-haired wisdom” a major force for social development.

In 2021, the OUC held an exhibition on the national teaching achievements of education for older adults, which receive a warmly response. The exhibition showcased 1,300 teaching achievements. Scholarships have also been set up for especially older adults.

Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC, pointed out that education for older adults is the best starting point to ensure material access to care for older adults, as well as spiritual fulfilment in terms of learning and happiness. Developing education for older adults is not only a major response to population ageing, realising education modernisation, and building a learning society, but is also an inevitable requirement if we are to satisfy the diverse learning needs of older adults, to improve their quality of life, and to encourage them to realise their value. Jing Degang hopes that all the older adults will be able to “enjoy their later life through learning”, and that all of them can be happy in their older years.

By OUC University for Older Adults