In the afternoon of January 7, 2016, a three-person group led by Liu Ying, Director of the Urban and Rural Social Education Division under the Ministry of Education (MOE) Department of Vocational and Adult Education, came to The Open University of China (OUC) to conduct a study on non-degree education work.

Li Linshu, Vice President of the OUC, Ma Ruolong, Director of the Department of External Education and Professional Training, Wang Qifu, Dean of the School of Vocational Education and Training, Zhou Yanjun, Executive Deputy Director of the MOE Research & Training Centre for Community Education, Tang Yingshan, Director of the School of Art Education, and Li Fujia, Deputy Director of the Chinese Language Centre, attended the research meeting.

Liu Ying hoped to explore the development of and experience with non-degree education at the OUC, as well as discuss with the OUC staff potential joint works in the future and how to further support the OUC in playing a greater role in urban and rural social education.

The OUC’s Department of External Education and Professional Training represented the other OUC departments related to non-degree education. The department introduced the school’s operating procedures, development process, professional work, and organizational structure, as well as new patterns, existing problems, and policy support for non-degree education. While reviewing progress in non-degree education at the OUC, both parties made in-depth exchanges during discussions over construction of the network’s platform for non-degree education, community education, older adult education, vocational training, as well as integrating non-degree resources and educational cooperation with industry and corporate colleges.

Liu Ying discovered that the OUC’s non-degree education programme has a strong foundation with clear development ideas. However, problems such as insufficient manpower and ideas, limited services, and weak project brands persist. She suggested that the development of the OUC’s non-degree education programme should be considered from the strategic perspective of serving the entire education system, including schools at the national level. At the same time, she said that non-degree education at the OUC has a great role and numerous advantages in building a learning society, and will become a new growth point in career development at the OUC in the future. The MOE plans to support overall planning of policy-making and major projects to support the OUC in building a non-degree education programme with its own organizational structure.

By Sun Jingliang, OUC