On 30 March 2020, a ceremony was held at Haidian District Education Commission (HDEC) for the Open University of China (OUC) and China Education Development Foundation (CEDF) to donate epidemic prevention supplies to Haidian District Education Commission.

Those attending the ceremony included CEDF secretary-general Zhang Zhongyuan; Wang Rui, director of the CEDF Fund-Raising Department; Yin Lijun, secretary of the CPC Haidian District Education Work Committee (HDEWC); Wang Fang, deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of the CPC HDEWC and director of HDEC; Zhao Xia, director of the HDEC General Office; Liu Chen, deputy secretary of the OUC Party Committee and chairman of the OUC Labour Union; Hu Xing, executive deputy chairman of the OUC Labour Union; Song Qingfeng, deputy director of the OUC General Office of the Party and Administration; and Li Guobin, deputy general manager of the RTVU Online Distance Education Technology Co., Ltd.

Liu Chen made a speech at the donation ceremony on behalf of the OUC. He indicated that the Ministry of Education has made several deployments of epidemic prevention and control work since the outbreak of COVID-19. People across national education circles have acted on these orders. They have bravely taken on heavy responsibilities and fought hard battles. The staff members of HDEC have always given top priority to the safety and health of its teachers and students. They have never relaxed their substantial and detailed efforts to prevent the spread of the epidemic and have earnestly put into effect the concept of “taking stringent measures to curb the spread and breakout of the epidemic to ensure safety free from the harm of the epidemic.” They have made outstanding contributions to epidemic prevention and control in the Beijing education system. As the overall domestic epidemic situation continues to improve, work, production, and classes are gradually being resumed in an orderly way. In order to support the next stage of the orderly resumption of classes at primary and middle schools in Haidian District and to find solutions to HDEC's shortage of epidemic prevention supplies, TV University Online Distance Education Technology Co., Ltd, which is affiliated to the OUC, donated 1,300 medical protective suits and 2,000 pairs of medical gloves to HDEC via CEDF in the hope of contributing to the resumption of classes and work in Haidian’s education system. We are convinced that we will win the battle against the epidemic and embrace a better future. We will see new developments to the education cause under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council with the solidarity and hard work of all Chinese people.

On behalf of the CPC HDEWC and HDEC, Yin Lijun, extended thanks to the OUC for donating epidemic prevention supplies at the crucial stage of the plague prevention and control. She pointed out that the OUC, as an institution of higher education stationed in Haidian District, has been offering great support for education in Haidian. She hoped that both parties will maintain close contact over future cooperation and work together to contribute to developing education that people are satisfied with.

Wang Fang presiding over the donation ceremony

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the OUC has leveraged the advantages of its internet plus education model and its rich digital resources to make learning resources accessible to various groups of people in the society and to offer online learning support. So far, the OUC has offered 19,965 online courses, 37,214 micro-courses, and 67,552 curriculum libraries for free to 5,019,185 people and 7,331 institutions. This has allowed many members of society, institutions, and universities to suspend classes but not learning. The Shi Xun Bao platform has also been made available for free to all national primary and middle schools and covers 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the administration of the Central Government throughout the country, offering online learning to around 3 million students in more than 5,000 primary and middle schools, and supporting online tutorials via questions and answers. To date, 100,000 front line teachers have broadcast around 800,000 courses live via the Shi Xun Bao platform, for a total of more than 600,000 hours. The Xiang Xue Ba platform, which is targeted at principals and teachers of kindergartens, as well as parents, has been positively publicised by local early education administration management authorities. Since its launch, it has witnessed more than 500,000 students with an average of over 20,000 times of learning. Moreover, The Learning and Development Guide for Children Aged 3-6 launched by the OUC has become popular with the national education management authorities, teaching research authorities, kindergartens, and parents.

By OUC