On 29th September 2017, the Training and Administration Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) signed a strategic and cooperative framework agreement with the Open University of China (OUC).
According to the agreement, the two sides will comply with the CMC’s overall deployment of military and vocational education reform, and fully rely on OUC’s educational resources to leverage the advantages and features of military schools, and carry out distance education to the entire military, for the purpose of building a distance education system for military officers that possesses scientific standards, a unified management, is of high quality and efficiency, open, and flexible, and has distinct characteristics.
The agreement states that the distance education programme for non-commissioned officers will adjust majors, reduce the number of self-operated majors, and place more emphasis on majors operated jointly by military schools and the OUC. Teaching duties across all self-operated majors, as well as fundamental course modules in jointly run majors, will be fulfilled by the OUC. Special course modules of jointly run majors will be undertaken by the military schools themselves.
Shen Yuejin, director of the CMC Training and Administration Department, OUC president Yang Zhijian, vice presidents Liu Chen and Qi Yanwei, and relevant personnel attended the conference. Qi Yanwei presided over the signing ceremony. Representatives from both two sides signed the strategic agreement.
Personnel from the Vocational Educational Bureau of CMC Training and Administration Department reviewed the OUC distance education for non-commissioned officers’ last seventeen years of implementation, stating that the exploration into a new educational model has cultivated a large number of professionals for the forces, enlarged training systems, and improved benefits from military officer training. Distance education for non-commissioned officers is an essential part of military vocational education, and important support for the development of troops and fighting capacity of the force. The cooperation turns the page on a new chapter of distance education for non-commissioned officers. At present, distance education development is at a historic crossroads: first, there are new requirements on non-commissioned officers and distance education built for them in the new context of national defense and military reform; secondly, distance education for non-commissioned officers is being incorporated into military vocational education, particularly as an essential component of continuing degree education - this kind of education is designed in the context of a “three-in-one” framework, and military vocational education reform; third, a new comprehensive management system has formed, the Vocational Bureau; fourth, a new development model has emerged, shifting away from development in different directions to unified management; fifth, a new educational model and major system have been created to serve the development of the military as a whole, as well as career development for military officers; sixth, new guarantees of distance education for non-commissioned officers have been incorporated into military budgets.
Yang Zhijian said that the OUC is a higher education institution directly affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and its historical mission is to adapt to national economic and social development needs, as well as people’s overall development, promote a lifelong educational system, and advance a learning-oriented society where people are keen on lifelong learning. The OUC’s advocates development that embodies “Openness, Responsibilities, Quality, Diversification, and Internationalisation.” The OUC pays special attention to the educational needs of broad reaches of society, including people from rural and ethnic minority areas. It is committed to social responsibilities, and promoting educational equity. Since 2000, the OUC has begun distance education programmes for military officers, and modernised the troops’ fighting capability. During the “13th Five-Year” period, the OUC created an “education support plan for special groups,” and attached great emphasis and support to new industrial worker groups, new vocational farmers, military officers, the disabled, and more. The agreement embodies another significant breakthrough of the OUC’s implementation of its educational vision, enlarging educational functions and realising its social value, as well as entered a new stage of standardisation and rapid development.
Yang Zhijian stated the OUC will take the initiative to serve troops’ training needs, cultivate professionals according to their needs, integrate military and civilian strength, leverage complementary advantages, encourage mutual development, and earnestly explore a new model and mechanism of learner development that integrates military and the civilian strengths to contribute to the cultivation of a large number of high quality military officers, with the goal of constructing a world-class force. The OUC will incorporate troop-specific majors into general plans for the university’s major reforms, and continuously improve the quality of available majors.
Since 2000, the OUC has established Bayi School, Zongcan School, and School for the Air Force, all aimed at helping military soldiers and officers, armed police, and non-commissioned officers realise their dreams of “going to college within the military.” As of autumn 2016, OUC’s distance education programme for non-commissioned officers had enrolled 360,000 students, graduated 220,000 students, and trained an additional 12,000 persons.
Written by Jin Hongyu, Edited by Yan Jingzhen,
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