On 22 December 2020, a meeting to promote the transformation and development of Shaanxi Open University (Shaanxi OU) was held at the university’s Guodu campus.
Liang Hongxian, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress; Liu Kuanren, vice chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Liu Xianghong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Open University of China (OUC); Jiang Tao, member of the Party group and deputy secretary general of the Office of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress; Gao Yang, deputy secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government; Liu Jianlin, deputy secretary of the Education Working Committee of Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and director of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education; and Sun Ke, secretary of the Science and Technology Working Committee of Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and director of the Provincial Science and Technology Department, attended the meeting. Wang Jiachun, secretary of the Party Committee of Shaanxi OU, delivered a speech at the meeting, which was presided over by Xu Chunxia, president of Shaanxi OU.
In his welcome speech, Wang Jiachun pointed out that during Shaanxi OU’s important period of transformation and development, Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government has placed university transformation work high on its agenda. The Education Working Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Department of Education has given the university strong support and the OUC has provided it with careful instructions. Shaanxi OU, with the objective of serving the economic and social development of Shaanxi Province and the country as a whole, and under the direction of constructing an educational system serving lifelong learning in the province, will continue to hold its ground in the territory of Shaanxi and speed up transformation and development. It will work hard to make the university into an important pillar of lifelong education in Shaanxi Province, an important platform for community education and education for older adults, and an important supporter of the learning society, so as to accelerate the modernisation of education and make new contributions to the advancement of education in Shaanxi in the new era.
Gao Yang read out the Written Reply from the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government on Renaming Shaanxi Radio and TV University (Shaanxi RTVU) to Shaanxi OU.
Liu Jianlin pointed out in his speech that the inauguration of Shaanxi OU is a major event in the process of higher education reform and development in Shaanxi Province. In the more than 40 years since its establishment, Shaanxi OU has been committed to providing accessible education to people in Shaanxi Province and has made positive contributions to promoting the popularisation of higher education and the construction of a learning society. He stressed that the university should take this opportunity to carry forward its fine tradition, stimulate vitality in education, and strengthen quality development, so as to make greater contributions to accelerating Shaanxi's transformation into a powerful province of higher education and serving the lifelong learning needs of everyone in the province. He demanded that, first, the fundamental task of moral education should be implemented and it is necessary for Shaanxi OU to have a clear understanding of the principle of "what kind of human resources should be cultivated, how to cultivate them, and for whom they are cultivated,” which is of fundamental importance, and actively practice the mission of "educating people for the Party and the country.” Second, Shaanxi OU needs to comprehensively improve the quality of educational operation and carry out strategic transformation according to the needs of economic and social development in the new era. It should adhere to the principle of offering education "targeted at and suitable for all individuals.” Third, it needs to do a better job of serving economic and social development, highlighting the needs of economic and social development, and actively participating in regional development in western China in the new era. The university should make full use of the opportunity of its strategic transformation and the advantages of online education and artificial intelligence to further expand the functions and service channels of education and improve its contribution to all members of society.
Liu Xianghong stressed that the renaming and transformation of Shaanxi OU is a great achievement of the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan. Over the past 40 years, Shaanxi OUC has cultivated more than 470,000 applied talented professionals in its junior college and undergraduate programmes and solved the problem of education compensation for two generations. It has developed the human resources needed for reform and opening up in the province, accumulated educational experience in the field of lifelong learning, and explored a path for the development of a new type higher education, all of which have contributed to the economic and social development of the province. She pointed out that it is essential to take the initiative to adapt to the development trends of digital, intelligent, lifelong, and integrated education and to make the OUC into a major platform for lifelong and online education and a platform for flexible education and external cooperation in China. She hoped that the university, standing at a new starting point of development, will closely focus on high-quality development, make innovations, and keep forging ahead in order to achieve more brilliant results.
In his speech, Liu Kuanren pointed out that the transformation and development of open universities is an internal requirement of these universities and a practical action as part of actively serving the national strategy. He stressed that, first, open universities should improve their political position and understand the significance of the transformation from a radio and television university to an open university. The open universities in the province should keep pace with the times, make overall plans, and break new ground. They should also provide a strong guarantee for education that is satisfactory for the people, take a path to quality development, and comprehensively improve the quality of educational operations. Second, it is necessary for universities to implement the requirements of the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan and actively and steadily push forward the transformation and development. They should strengthen the Party's overall leadership over university work, deepen the reform of internal management systems and mechanisms, vigorously implement the integration of industry and education and university-business cooperation, constantly enhance the core competitiveness of school running, give play to the advantages of the system, and build a large platform for lifelong learning serving the whole people. Thirdly, they should strengthen organisational leadership to ensure the smooth implementation of various reform measures, and give full play to the functions of personnel training, science and technology innovation, social services, cultural inheritance and innovation, and international exchange and cooperation.
Liang Hongxian and Liu Kuanren unveiled Shaanxi OU to the sound of warm applause.
Xu Chunxia said that the renaming of Shaanxi OU is a milestone event and a new starting point for the development of the university. Shaanxi OU must keep in mind its original mission, seize the opportunity, take advantage of the situation, and continue to carry forward its fine tradition. It must keep up with the pace of the times, find out its own distinguished features, and work hard to cultivate applied and comprehensive talented professionals who will be able to serve regional economic and social development and the optimisation and upgrading of the industrial structure, so as to make new and greater contributions to the development of Shaanxi in the new era.
Members of the leading group of Shaanxi OU, a number of retired cadres, leaders of Municipal Education Bureaus, principals and secretaries of all branches of the open education system in Shaanxi, the director of the Shaanxi operation centre of Open Edutainment, persons in charge of industry workstations and tutorial centres directly affiliated to Shaanxi OU, and representatives of the faculty and students of the university attended the meeting.
By OUC News Network, reprinted from People’s Daily