There is a university whose students are soldiers on duty at sea, who are "new farmers" at work in the fields, and who are disabled people dealing with everyday inconveniences. They are all realising their university dreams through distance education. This is the Open University of China (OUC).
Wang Yatao is a non-commissioned officer on the Medical Ship Peace Ark and an ordinary undergraduate student majoring in the 2016 class of Administrative Management at the OUC Bayi School. In June 2018, he set sail with Medical Ship Peace Ark from a military port in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province to Papua New Guinea and other countries to carry out humanitarian medical services. He submitted his undergraduate dissertation while out on duty and completed his dissertation defence through the distance education network. He graduated as scheduled with a bachelor's degree.
“This is a genuine open university without walls. No matter where you are and as long as there are dreams, then you have a chance,” said Wang Yatao.
This “open door” university has been operating for 40 years and has witnessed every step of China’s education development.
Yang Zhenning once taught in the RTVU
Forty years ago in 1979, the OUC, which was called China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU in short) at the time, was established with the advocacy and instruction of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. It holds the memories of a generation.
Former Secretary of the CCRTVU Party Committee Zhang Qunyu recalls that when the CCRTVU was first established only the Electronics and Mechanics majors were offered, in addition to foundation courses in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Zhang Qunyu said, “In order to meet the country’s urgent need for practical professionals, the scope of our majors needed to be expanded, so we visited factories and enterprises to learn about the actual needs of the nation. As a result, 12 majors, including Liberal Arts, Science, Engineering, Economics, Chemistry, Management, have been developed.”
In 1981, economic professionals trained by regular universities and colleges were in short supply due to the steady growth of China's economy. “We coordinated with employers to offer education together with the support of a number of ministries and commissions. After two years’ of preparation, the RTVU enrolled its first students in the Economics major in 1983, with over 200,000 students admitted. From the founding of new China to 1983, only 150,000 students graduated from economics universities in China. There were about 400,000 state-owned enterprises and government institutions nationwide and there was not even one student for every unit. It was a great pleasure to all that we admitted over 200,000 students in one enrolment. Thanks to the strict teaching management in the RTVU, this batch of students played very positive roles in national economic development after their graduation”, Zhang Qunyu said.
However, the large number of students did not mean lax management. Older people who work for RTVUs all remember the “difficult” examinations at that time and the RTVU’s characteristics of “tolerant entrance and strict exit.” As associate professor Cai Shu from the former CCRTVU explained, “It was the RTVU’s tradition to invite renowned and strict teachers to teach there. Celebrated gentlemen like Yang Zhenning and Dai Yi have given lectures at the RTVU.”
A story told by Cai Shu showed that all the teaching materials used by the RTVUs were compiled by famous industry experts. Among them, the author of College Physics was Li Chun, a professor from the School of Physics of Peking University. After attending a meeting on physics teaching organised by UNESCO, he listed over 10 topics for the RTVU Physics Teaching and Research Office. Each topic was taught by leading experts at the time. However, a number of people remained puzzled by the particle physics topic. Ge Molin, a researcher at the Institute of Mathematics at Nankai University, recommended Mr. Yang Zhenning to shoulder this topic. “In May 1994, I wrote to Mr. Yang and told him of the request. In early June, I received his reply. To my pleasant surprise, I got a phone call from him at the Chinese University of Hong Kong at the same time. He said that he would come to Beijing to attend the review meeting for an academic award in early January 1995 and that he would like to spare some time to give the RTVU students lectures on this topic,” Cai Shu recalled.
In his lecture, Yang Zhenning talked about the historical contributions of Academicians Deng Jiaxian and Yu Min, and encouraged the students to study hard and serve China.
“Yang Zhenning's lecture ‘Symmetry and Modern Physics' was more advanced and cutting-edge than the original ‘Particle Physics’ course,” Cai Shu recalled.
A “University for Farmers” Run in the Fields
In July 2012, China Central Radio and TV University was formally renamed the Open University of China. The university’s “openness” is rightly defined by the fact that “anyone can learn anytime and anywhere.” As the saying goes, “Where there is need, there is schooling.” This is the university described by secretary of the OUC Party Committee Yang Zhijian.
The “One College Student Per Village” programme is the epitome of this concept. Long Siqing, Party branch secretary of Guchong Village, Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province, is already in her fifties. In 2017, she obtained a junior college diploma in Rural Administrative Management. Through the lectures given by the RTVU teachers, she has improved her knowledge and broadened her vision. Thanks to her leadership, the villagers have planted oranges with a gross annual output value of nearly RMB 8,000, The tangerines grown have been praised as a top ten agricultural product. Guchong Village has also leapt from a poverty-stricken village to “a demonstration village for new rural construction.”
The “One College Student Per Village” programme is committed to “targeted poverty alleviation and reduction.” Yang Zhijian told the reporter, “By means of modern information technology and giving play to the educational advantages of the open university system, the project has benefitted many farmers and less-developed areas. Multiple measures have been taken to drive targeted poverty alleviation through education, to strengthen the supply and service of higher education and to realise the localised training of rural university students. For more than a decade, the ‘One College Student Per Village’ programme has trained a large number of practical rural talents and leaders in obtaining wealth. They are well-educated, skilled, and expert at management, and have been recognised by the local government and society.” He continued, “As of the end of 2018, the ‘One College Student Per Village’ programme has created 23 junior college and undergraduate programmes under seven categories for a total of 133 courses. Total enrolment has reached 670,000 students of whom about 400,000 of them graduated. We have developed field courses closely related to reality and set up courses in planting, breeding, management and service through modern open and distance education means in line with rural characteristics. The contents of the courses conform to the actual needs of rural society, economy, and production, and the cultivation needs of the new type of professional farmers. The rural students register for entrance and autonomous learning so that they can accumulate credits without the need to transfer their household registration. They get nationally-recognised diplomas after completing the required courses and getting the required credits.”
Among the college students who graduated through this project are village cadres, heads of agricultural cooperatives, masters in achieving wealth, large-scale breeders, and ordinary employees of ecological parks. According to Yang Zhijian, since the implementation of the “One College Student Per Village” programme, the OUC has exempted or reduced tuition fees for every rural university student, formed an inclusive institutional arrangement for farmers to receive higher education services, and accurately combined poverty alleviation projects through education in each area with poverty-stricken families.
Paying Special Attention to Educational Needs in Rural, Border, and Ethnic Minority Areas
In addition to being rooted in grassroots communities and rural areas, the OUC also sends education to remote ethnic minority areas.
In September 2017, the OUC began offering partner assistance to Tibet University for the joint construction of the OUC Tibet branch during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, making it the 45th branch of the OUC. At present, the Tibet Branch has set up five tutorial centres in Lhasa, Shannan, Shigatse, Nyingchi, and Qamdo. Seven undergraduate majors, including Chinese language and literature, accounting, and administrative management, and five junior college programmes, including nursing and modern administration have been offered, with a total enrolment of 12,208 students of which 7,076 have graduated.
The OUC also caters to disabled students. In 2009, Yang Bozun, a national-level swimming athlete with happens to be blind, entered the OUC Tianjin School for the disabled. According to Yang Zhijian, the school created a special study programme for Yang Bozun including three hours of leaning English after swimming exercise every day. He obtained stronger autonomous learning abilities through the training.
At the London 2012 Paralympics, Yang Bozun had an interview in English with media such as China Central Television and the BBC, which won great acclaim. He was the only Chinese athlete who had a direct interview in English.
Wu Miaochun, paralysed after a high fever, serves as head of the rehabilitation centre and leader of the disabled volunteer team of Lianhuabei Community, Futian District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. In 2001, the OUC Shenzhen School for the Disabled and the Shenzhen Disabled Persons Federation became leaders in offering diploma distance education to the disabled. Wu Miaochun was a student in one of the first commercial classes. After three years of distance education, she finished studying all 16 courses and was honoured with the title “outstanding graduate.” Under her leadership, the disabled citizens in the community have come together for the establishment of the rehabilitation station and mutual help team. As a result, their life is getting better and better.
During the interview, the reporter found out that there are even more OUC students. Whether you are on the vast sea or in a remote mountainous area and no matter how many difficulties you have, as long as you have the need to learn and are willing to work hard, you will see hope.
“The OUC pays special attention to the educational needs of grassroots communities, and rural, border, and ethnic minority areas. It has a responsibility to promote equal access to education and has contributed to popularising higher education in China. There are 3.8 million active students in the OUC, including 200,000 rural university students, 120,000 non-commissioned army officers, 270,000 ethnic minority students, and 6,000 disabled students. Seventy percent of the students are from the grassroots and 50% of them are in the central and western regions,” said Yang Zhijian in his summary. Forging ahead over the last 40 years, the OUC has handed over an achievement list to the satisfaction of the nation and the social public.
By Yao Xiaodan,Guangming Daily