On the morning of 25 October 2020, on the occasion of the arrival of the traditional Chinese festival, "Double Ninth Day,” the Open University of China (OUC) held a ceremony to kick off  the “Happy Learning and Respecting Older Adults” 2020 joint action.

Wu Yushao, member of the Party Group of the Office of China National Committee on Ageing (CNCA) and vice president of CNCA; Li Hongbing, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau (BMCAB); Wu Shimin, president of the Beijing Silver Industry Association (BSIA); Yuan Fang, vice president of the Beijing Silver Industry Association (BSIA); Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC; and Liu Chen, deputy secretary of the OUC Party Committee and president of the OUC University for Older Adults, and heads of the relevant departments attended the launching ceremony.

Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and President of the OUC, giving a speech

In his speech, Jing Degang said that the OUC has mobilised the strengths of the open university system and gathered professionals and experts engaged in education for older adults in China in order to help the OUC grow bigger, stronger, and better and contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the construction of an education system serving lifelong learning for all. He stressed that after launching the “Happy Learning and Respecting Older Adults” joint action, the OUC will focus its work on three aspects. First, it will construct a spiritual home of "Happy Learning and Respecting Older Adults,” unite the strengths of the OUC system, and bring together excellent course resources. It will take various efforts to realise “Happy Learning,” and exert its role as the "national team" in the strategy of “Internet plus Education for Older Adults” in order to enable older adults to fully experience he spiritual enjoyment as they get older with the support of learning and have their sense of happiness improved. Second, it will create a culture of “Happy Learning and Respecting Older Adults.” The OUC proposes that a development strategy  integrating “health, elderly care, education, and tourism” should be established in order to develop education for the elderly. Through integrated solutions, the OUC makes it possible for older adults to step out of their homes and get together in person instead of meeting online, helping them to make certain achievements and live a happier life in their later years. Third, it will build a beautiful campus of “Happy Learning and Respecting Older Adults.” The OUC, with its platform that supports “overall planning at two-levels and operations at four levels” and integrated online and offline educational methods, is building a national demonstration base for elderly education, a world-class elderly education demonstration centre, and a comprehensive service network for elderly education with a combination of online and offline means that covers both rural and urban areas in China.

Wu Yushao, member of the Party Group of the CNCA Office and vice president of CNCA, giving a speech

Wu Yushao pointed out that the purpose of care for older adults in the new era will change from meeting the need for essential survival skills to offering education for enjoyment, self-development, and participation. In the future, education will be one of the best forms of care for older adults. During the 13th Five-Year Plan, China has seen an increase in its aged population by 35 million, and that number will increase by 53 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. At this stage, a large number of relatively young, healthy, educated, and high-quality older adults born after the 1960s, a comparably new generation, have joined and will be joining the aged group. The demand for education among older adults will be further stimulated, the gap between supply and demand will be further expanded, and situations where it is “difficult to secure a seat” in universities for older adults will be inevitable. Therefore, vigorously developing education for older adults is an inexorable requirement of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, actively responding to the ageing population, vigorously developing elderly care and services, and improving the quality of life of older adults, which is also an urgent task. He stressed that the OUC, with its advantages in terms of operation system, resources, teachers, courses, and information construction that can be used for the development of education for older adults, will become a major force for effectively expanding the coverage of elderly education and realising leapfrog development, especially in making up for the lack of community-based education for older adults. Thanks to the great potential of the OUC and with so much to be done for education for older adults, Wu Yushao believes that great achievements will be made in the future.

Jing Degang and Wu Yushao launching the “Happy Learning  and Respecting Older Adults” joint action

Jing Degang and Wu yushao officially opened the “Happy Learning and Respecting Older Adults” joint action by pressing the start button together. The joint action covers a wide range of activities, with abundant content presented in diversified forms, including national-level live streamed lectures, practical actions to deliver education for older adults for grass-roots level senior adult students, yhr release of a quality course series titled “National Conditions Education on the Ageing of Population,” as well as a display of learning stories such as “Narratives about Tree Rings" and “Love for the Elderly.” By giving full play to the advantages of the open university system, all of the contents of the joint action, delivered in a happy learning way, will help to carry forward the Chinese tradition of respecting older adults.

Liu Chen, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC University for Older Adults, reading out a list of winners of the “Happy Learning and Epidemic Prevention” event

At the launch ceremony, the OUC also commended outstanding organisations, units, and teachers who actively participated in the “Happy Learning and Epidemic Prevention” joint action. The OUC Open University for Older Adults launched this joint action in early February as an active response to the call of the Ministry of Education for “Continuing to Offer Education and Learning during of School Closures.” In cooperation with Open Universities for Older Adults in various provinces, it opened 31 learning platforms free of charge, brought together 40,000 public welfare courses, and planned the “National Live Streaming Lectures for Happy Learning.” All of the learning platforms mentioned above, with a total number of 9 million visitors, have won recognition from learners and attracted wide attention from all members of society.

The project of Introducing Elderly Education in Beijing to Elderly Service Stations jointly launched by the OUC University for Older Adults and the BSIA, as well as the OUC “Lectures for Older Adults” programme, were also launched at the meeting.

Li Hongbing, deputy director of BMCAB, giving a speech

Li Hongbing said that respecting older adults is a part of traditional Chinese culture. As part of the work of coping with the ageing population, updating ideas, renewing knowledge, and improving abilities are very important basic tasks. When solving the problems encountered in the process of adapting economic and social development to the ageing population, we should pay more attention to the basic function of education in helping older adults to adapt to their future life, as well as guaranteeing their basic needs.

Wu Shimin, president of BSIA, giving a speech

Wu Shimin pointed out that there is a very urgent demand for lifelong learning among older adults, which needs to keep pace with the development of the times. With the support of the OUC’s “Lectures for Older Adults,” online learning and service platforms, and the offline Beijing elderly service stations, together we can deliver high-quality education resources for older adults to the aged population and help senior citizens realise their dreams of “access to learning and happiness.”

Liu Chen, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the OUC and president of the OUC University for Older Adults, delivering a speech and announcing the launch of the “Lectures for Older Adults”

Liu Chen stressed that the “Lectures for Older Adults” will build an education platform for lifelong learning for the elderly. Online courses and live lectures on science popularisation, healthy living, information technology, and culture and entertainment will be organised for older adults to enrich their spiritual and cultural life, and used as important venues for older adults to learn new knowledge, master new skills, lead new trends, and make new friends, so that they can attend university courses without leaving their community.

Booming Flowers and Full Moon, a wonderful show held at the launch ceremony

Debut of the quality course series, “National Condition Education on the Ageing of the Population”

After the launch ceremony, a quality course series, “National Condition Education on the Ageing of Population,” produced by the OUC, premiered. The series of courses, with a focus on the issues and topics that most concern older adults, were carefully produced under the instructions of Wu Yushao, member of the party group of the CNCA Office and vice president of CNCA, and Professor Du Peng, vice president of Renmin University of China. The courses are divided into eight parts and 40 episodes, with contents focusing on positive and healthy concepts for older adults, the service security system, methods of care for older adults, the value of older adults, intergenerational relations, and lifelong learning. The premiere courses include “What is population ageing?”, “Magic and Intelligent Care and Services for Older Adults,” “Living in a Group or Living in Other Cities,” and “The Library of Time.”

Responsible personnel, teachers, and workers from Open Universities for Older Adults in regions across China, as well as older students from all over the country, watched the live launch ceremony and quality courses in branch venues set up in Open Universities for Older Adults in the OUC system.

Group watching sessions organised by local branches  

Senior students watching the live broadcast ceremony and quality courses

By Wen Shuyu, Jiang Haiyan and Qi Shuang, OUC