"I was a senior engineer with the Shougang Group, and have played several other roles. At the OUC, I was a student; at home, I am a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother; in the community, I was an English teacher. Speaking of being an English teacher, I'd like to share with you today a few stories about me and English." On 14 April, in the finals of the OUC "My Learning Story" speech contest, Tang Zhijie, who is in her seventies, won the first prize.
She turns 80 this year, and was a student at the OUC University for Older Adults (Beijing branch) pursuing non-degree education. Her vivid story amazed the audience. "One is never too old to learn, and learning makes one feel younger!" she said.
Jiang Xuhuai, also an older student, turns 62 this year, but jokes that he is 26, and gaining a second youth through his studies. He has studied hard to become a lawyer, becoming famous as a talented Law student at the university.
Two years ago, the then 60-year-old Jiang Xuhuai decided to study at the Wuhan branch of the OUC. A businessman who had owned a small business on Hanzheng Street for over half his life, he decided to make a change by going to university.
Jiang Xuhuai and Tang Zhijie, despite their age, found a desk waiting for them at the OUC. As an open university, the OUC serves all the people, providing opportunities and services to anyone with the ability and motivation to undertake higher education. Based on the idea that "anyone can learn at any time and in any place", the OUC has helped many seniors realise their dream of attending university.
A new system of distance education for older adults
Aging populations are a problem worldwide, but nowhere more so than in China. It was clearly stated in the 18th NPC report that "we should address population aging and boost remedies for this problem." In the 13th "Five-Year Plan" it was stressed that "we should keep up with the times and address the problem of aging positively", calling for older adults to "make their own contributions, be independent, and improve themselves". As a way of addressing this issue, developing education for older adults is of great significance.
Distance education for older adults has a long history in China. Since the 1980s, the OUC and the open-university (RTVU) system have offered it. Over the past 30 years, the national open-university system has accumulated considerable experience in providing this service.
On 28 Jan., 2015, the OUC officially opened the Open University for Older Adults, offering degree and non-degree education for seniors, supported by modern information technology. More than 10 provinces and cities, including Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia, Beijing and Liaoning came to rely on the local open university or RTVU to set up an open university for older adults, open university for elderly cadres, or university (or college) for older adults.
Through three years of exploration and practice, the OUC Open University for Older Adults took advantage of the national scope of the OUC system, its advanced use of IT, rich experience in distance and open education, and abundant resources to achieve results in promoting education and service for older adults. The OUC Open University for Older Adults also promoted the cultivation of pension-service practitioners, set up relevant majors and courses, developed a training programme, and provided human-resource guarantees for the pension-service industry in China.
New times and trends have given elder education a new task and mission, and in Dec. 2016, the OUC issued its 13th "Five-year Plan" on Reform and Construction. By formulating a plan for educating older adults, the OUC strengthened its distance-education services for them, following development goals such as "implementing the national Development Plan for the Elderly Education (2016-2020), demonstrating health maintenance for older adults", continuing the "cooperation and co-building" essential to founding the Open University for Older Adults, connecting the system with the rest of society, and promoting the development of distance education for older adults.
Promoting online and offline mobile connection
To cater to the diverse learning demands of older adults, the OUC Open University for Older Adults promotes both degree and non-degree continuing education, relying on the OUC credit bank for accumulation and transfer of credits. The internet, cloud computing and mobile platforms enhance distance education for older adults, with mobile-terminal products such as "Ailaobang", "Happy Learning Class" and "Call-up" creating a learning environment suited to the elderly and to pension-service practitioners, allowing them to "learn at any time in any place".
The Open University for Older Adults caters to actual demands, meticulously designs the courses, and provides fine services. It has built a resource bank for elder education of nearly 200,000 minutes of digital resources; developed a national curriculum and course catalog; explored the cooperative building and sharing of resources, promoting connections and communication; striven to create distributed storage and unified delivery of resources; and operated Weibo, WeChat, and other public new-media accounts, with registered learners reaching 25,000 and total visitors exceeding 10 million. At present, the website portal has collected nearly 5,000 individual resources, designed over 300 module courses, developed a national curriculum, and provided customised education services for the elderly and -service institutions for the elderly.
Meanwhile, the Open University for Older Adults has been recommended for vice-chairmanship of the National 3rd Age University Alliance, drawing the attention of the "Voice of the Elderly" channel of China National Radio (CNR), the elder channel of Xinhuanet, the China Community Newspaper, the Home of Veteran Cadres, the China Elder Newspaper, and other media outlets. It will sign strategic-cooperation agreements with the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Palace Museum.
The Open University for Older Adults also plans to release a documentary column called Growth Record. One session of exclusive interviews recorded in both writing and on video will be released every month on the official website of the Open University for Older Adults, its WeChat account, Weibo, QQ video, and Youku video.
The OUC will continue to promote mutual discussion and sharing, cooperative building and management, and benefit; the ideal of education available at anytime, anywhere; use of IT and open education to promote the development of the elderly education; opposition to barriers to it; collecting elder-education resources; making the Open University for Older Adults available nationwide; and implementing the goal of providing multi-layered and diverse education services as part of a new era of education.
By Wu Yaqi, OUC