In order to provide a guarantee for practical teaching work in the spring semester of 2020 and help students to graduate smoothly while adhering to principle of cultivating talents on the basis of moral education and integrating labour education into the entire process of learner development, the Open University of China (OUC) recently issued a plan putting forward the following requirements for practical teaching and graduation work during the period of epidemic prevention and control.

First, for all students who need to complete practical courses during this special period, it is suggested that OUC branches (or schools) carry out the majority of practical teaching via online or virtual means.

Practical assignments for curriculum study and internships can be carried out mainly through online or virtual experiments or drills, while practically assignments for curriculum study should be in line with the specific requirements of the curriculum syllabus and implementation plan. Documentation should be provided for the process of the practice, performance evaluated, and relevant supporting documents provided.

With regard to graduation theses (dissertations), thesis instruction and defence can be held via online video, including the cloud classroom and video conferencing systems. All matters related to students’ defences should be arranged in advance, the complete defence process should be conscientiously recorded, and audio and video recordings should be carefully archived.

Second, a series of special policies have been issued to ensure the successful graduation of students who are engaging in the fight against or being affected by the epidemic but are scheduled to graduate this semester.

In September 2020, the OUC headquarters will organise an examination targeted at these students, and increase the frequency of graduation approval and the issuance of graduation certificates (with the graduation time on the graduation certificate stated as September 2020). It will extend the completion time of practical aspects of students' curricula and professional social practical courses. Effected students can participate in the graduation approval in September 2020. It will also extend the date for the writing and defence of students' graduation theses (dissertations), as well as issue extensions for degree application, review, and awarding work. Students whose graduation thesis is delayed can participate in graduation review in September 2020. In addition, from September to October 2020, the university will hold a degree evaluation committee meeting to review students’ degree applications.

Students who are deemed to have made outstanding contributions during the process of epidemic prevention and control can obtain practical credits for Ideological and Political courses, including Ideological and Moral Cultivation and Fundamentals of Law and Outline of Modern Chinese History if certain conditions are met. Students from specific majors including Pharmacy, Nursing, Civil Engineering, Law, Social Work, can also obtain social practice credits if certain conditions are met.

By OUC Academic Affairs Department