On 14 May 2019, the Open University of China (OUC) and China Health-Media Group Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Beijing.
The agreement aims to give full play to their respective policy and resource advantages, focusing on the implementation of education and training for health practitioners in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and food safety, and jointly building a high-quality education and training system and a support service system. Liu Chen, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the OUC, and Wu Shaozhen, chairman of China Health-Media Group Ltd, attended the signing ceremony.
Liu Chen fully affirmed the strategic cooperation between the two sides and put forward three hopes for future cooperation: First, the two sides should take the strategic cooperation as a starting point and jointly explore ways to share resources and build in each other’s advantages; Second, to take project cooperation as a driving point and build a brand for training practitioners in the general health field; Third, make talent training the starting point for cooperation and jointly explore new mechanisms for the integration of industry and education and school-enterprise cooperation.
Wu Shaozhen pointed out that the strategic cooperation is of great significance to improving the comprehensive quality, professional level, and on-the-job competence of employees in relevant fields and responding positively to the national strategy of a "Healthy China.”
According to the agreement, the two sides will make use of advantages such as country-wide organisational system and high-quality educational and teaching resources like teachers, information platform, training centre, curriculum and textbooks, in order to expand the channels for personnel education and training in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and food safety. They will initiate cooperation among pharmacists, nurses ,and food safety online training projects, prepare to launch training projects such as "Health Administrators", "Health Care Therapists", "Processors of Traditional Chinese Medicine,” and "Pharmaceutical Workers,” and jointly develop new training projects based on the cooperation process and market demand. They will jointly explore methods for the mutual promotion and integrative development of non-degree and degree education in the field of general health.
The OUC is a new type of university engaging in degree and non–degree continuing education directly under the Ministry of Education, supported by modern information technology and facing all members of society. It undertakes important tasks such as vigorously developing non-degree continuing education, steadily developing academic continuing education, promoting the deep integration of modern science and technology with education, and building a "bridge" for lifelong learning. At present, the OUC, in accordance with the new requirements of constructing a modern vocational education system, is focusing on the new teaching model of "Six-Network Integration,” vigorously promoting the reform and innovation of education and teaching, and striving to build a public service platform for lifelong learning for all.
As a direct subordinate unit of the National Medical Products Administration, China Health-Media Group Ltd. is a central cultural enterprise funded by the State Council, with the purpose of serving the cause of supervision and public health. Its business scope covers newspapers, periodicals, book publishing, pharmacist training, new media platforms, data mining, and public opinion monitoring. It has abundant resources and powerful influence in the medical and pharmacy field. Tianchuang Information Technology Co., Ltd a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Health-Media Group Ltd, possesses online education and training platforms for Chinese medicine, pharmacists, nurses, food safety, and other health fields, and carries out pre-examination training for professional qualifications in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and food safety.
This cooperation represents a strong start to the strategic cooperation between the OUC and China Health-Media Group Ltd. Carrying out training for practitioners in the general health field is an important part of implementing the National Vocational Education Reform Implementation Plan and a way to promote the implementation of the Healthy China strategy, which is of great responsibility and far-reaching significance.
By Lv Qian, OUC