On 2 and 3 June 2021, the Faculty of Political Science and Law of the Open University of China (OUC) held a seminar on teaching and research in the Administrative Management majors in Kunming, Yunnan Province.

Nearly 100 OUC teachers participated, aiming to study and implement the ideas General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward in his important speech at the National Education Conference, and to foster virtue through education. The seminar's purpose was to promote construction, reform and enhancement of the majors and strengthen personnel training, and revolved around four major themes: a training programme in Rural Management, ideological and political education, training reform based on the standards of majors, and the work of the Teaching and Research Central Group of the Administrative Management majors.

Liu Xianghong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee, and secretary of the OUC Discipline Inspection Committee, delivered a speech titled "Implementing the Fundamental Task of Fostering Virtue through Education, and Building Quality Administrative Management Majors with Unique Features". She pointed out that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. It is also the year for China to start anew building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and for the OUC to recommit itself to high-quality development of open and distance education. In September 2020, China’s Ministry of Education released the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan, another milestone in the history of the OUC and a new stage in the development of Radio and TV universities. In the future, Administrative Management majors will be expected to implement the plan, and emphasise enhancements and adherence to moral education, ideological and political education, "student centred" approaches, standards and development in line with the specific characteristics of the majors, reform of teaching and other aspects of education, and scientific research.

Gu Xiaohua, vice dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Law, delivered a keynote speech on "Construction and Development of Administrative Management Majors at the OUC". He gave an overview of the construction and development of these majors in the past two years, while focusing in detail on future development and areas of priority.

Winners of the special and 1st prizes in the 2020 Ideological and Political Education Teaching-design Competition for programmes in the Faculty of Political Science and Law, including Wu Lezhen (Zhejiang Branch), Feng Yun (Hunan Branch), Yang Daiping (Sichuan Branch), Zhang Runzhen (Gansu Branch), and Wang Cong (Xi'an Branch), shared their experiences and practices teaching ideology and politics in Administrative Management, acting as models for the construction of ideological and political education in Administrative Management at the OUC.

In the intensive teaching and research activity, groups engaged in in-depth discussions of the Rural Management training programme, covering objectives, standards, curricula and practices based on their own experiences working in grassroots units.

They also covered training reforms based on the standards of Administrative Management, discussing their framework in terms of overview, enrolment, career orientation, training objectives and requirements, curricula and schedules, basic teaching conditions, teaching organisation and implementation, quality assurance, and other areas. The direction of future reforms was also clarified.

The work of the Teaching and Research Central group of Administrative Management majors was also a major theme. The centre groups reviewed and summarised their work of the past three years, and outlined plans for their future development. Consensus was reached on strengthening team construction and collaboration as well as focusing on teaching reform, scientific research, and ideological and political education.

The event, with its rich content and distinctive theme, was closely related to the development of national education and the OUC, and will help develop consensus within the OUC system and promote the development of Administrative Management there.

 Written by He Yuanzeng; Photo by Li Yang, OUC