On 29 December 2021, the OUC 14th Five-Year Plan for Development was officially issued and implemented.
The 14th Five-Year Plan period is a time of important strategic transition for the Open University of China (OUC) as it strives to fully implement the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan and build a world-class open university with Chinese characteristics. In order to promote the development of the OUC during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, improve the quality of education, improve the school system, lead the high-quality development of open universities in China, and achieve the expected goals, the OUC 14th Five-Year Plan for Development has been formulated.
I. Development Foundation and Situation
(I) Realistic Foundation
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the OUC conscientiously implemented the Party’s education policy and other policies, and fully implemented the third phase of the OUC Construction Plan and the 13th Five-Year Plan for the Reform and Construction of the OUC in accordance with the decision and deployment of the Party Group of the Ministry of Education. Also during the period, the OUC made important achievements and progress, laying a solid foundation for promoting the construction of a world-class open university.
Party leadership and construction have been comprehensively strengthened. New progress has been made in the construction of the school running system. New achievements in learner development have been made. The construction of the teaching faculty continues to be strengthened. New steps have been taken in scientific research and international exchange and cooperation. The construction of education informatisation has been accelerated. New breakthroughs have been made in the construction of the credit bank.
(II) New Situation
The 14th Five-Year Plan period is an important development opportunity for the OUC. There is not only a strong demand for high-quality, technically competent professionals but also a broad scope for the development of education for older adults. Community education and external training will become an important part of education, and the construction of a learning society characterised by national learning and lifelong learning will be accelerated. The people’s demand for quality education is increasing day by day.
Nevertheless, the OUC faces a number of challenges, including: the gap between people’s demand for quality education and school supply capacity; insufficient integration and innovation of school education and teaching created by the rapid development of modern information technology; the new demand for high-quality technical competent professionals compared with the single school-running model and lack of types of schooling.
II. Overall Requirements
(I) Guiding Ideology
The OUC should hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, adhere to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the important thought of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development. It should be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and fully implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee. It should thoroughly implement the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech delivered at the meeting to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and his important remarks on education. It will put in place the guiding principles of the National Education Conference and the National Vocational Education Conference to execute the OUC Comprehensive Reform Plan and the guiding principles of the First Party Congress of the OUC. It is necessary to ground the OUC’s work in this new stage of development, and completely, accurately, and comprehensively apply the new development philosophy. The OUC should foster a new pattern of development, transform the university into a world-class open university with Chinese characteristics, and make it a strong supporting pillar serving the lifelong learning and the construction of a skilled society.
(II) Development Concept
The OUC will maintain its efforts to serve the educational trends of major national and regional development strategies, industrial development, and the construction of an educational system serving lifelong learning for all by thinking freely, achieving reform and innovation, and delivering stability while making progress. It will continue to prioritise both degree education and non-degree education, develop full-time education in parallel with part-time education, and give play to the advantages of integrated education. It will bring together quality education resources and adhere to running education rooted in the vast land of China by making the improvement of education quality its lifeline. With the implantation of the 1233 Project (building one team, enhancing two capabilities, establishing three systems, and implementing three strategies), the OUC has promoted the "four transformations" (from seeking quantity to strengthening quality, from a focus on qualifications to one on knowledge, from providing degrees to enhancing skills, and from prioritising online teaching to the integrated development of online and offline teaching), which is driving high-quality development.
(Ⅲ) Basic Principles (“nine adherences")
Uphold the overall leadership of the Party over the university’s reform and development
Adhere to a socialist direction in running the university
Follow the public welfare principles of open education
Maintain the positioning of institutions of higher learning
Adhere to a learner-centred approach
Continue to deepen reform
Sustain innovative development
Continue to apply systematic thinking
Continue to be motivated by projects
(Ⅳ) Main Goals
By the end of 2025, the OUC will be largely transformed into a world-class open university with Chinese characteristics, becoming a major platform for lifelong education, a major platform for online education, a platform for flexible education, and a platform for international cooperation. The OUC will play an irreplaceable role in serving lifelong learning for all.
The OUC has clarified the attributes of its higher education and connotations as a new type of university, and has also implemented its autonomy of school operation and policy of school operation
The OUC should better integrate the development of general higher education, vocational education, and continuing education and achieve a significant improvement in school capacity, quality, level, international influence, and social reputation
The OUC should secure and enhance the quality of open education, actively expand its vocational undergraduate education, strive to explore postgraduate education, and form a new model of multi-faceted, multi-level school running.
The OUC should promote a multi-campus layout and classify and optimise the function of its different campuses. The OUC’s China-wide schooling system has been improved, and the governance system and governance capacity have been significantly modernised.
III. Overall Strategy: 11 major tasks, 10 columns, nine projects, and 14 programmes.
Task 1: Strengthen the Party’s overall leadership and Party building
1) Adhere to and strengthen the overall leadership of the Party over the work of the school
2) Continuously strengthen the study of theory
3) Firmly grasp the leadership of ideological work
4) Strengthen the political function of grass-roots Party organisations
5) Promote the in-depth development of the strict governance of the Party
6) Build high-quality professional cadres who possess both morality and knowledge
Task 2: Improve the integrated national system and mechanism for open education
1) Strengthen the construction of a modern open university system
2) Build the OUC’s regional centres
3) Support the OUC Experimental School in developing its own characteristics and level
4) Give continuous support to the construction of community-level open universities
5) Strengthen cultural construction to enhance system cohesion
Task 3: Train a highly competent teaching team
1) Strengthen teachers’ ethics
2) Strengthen OUC training for teachers
3) Introduce high-level personnel
4) Reform and innovate the incentive mechanism for teachers
Task 4: Improve the quality of learner development
1) Deepen ideological and political education reform
2) Establish and improve a quality assurance system
3) Promote excellence in degree education
4) Promote the construction and application of quality learning resources
5) Improve the overall quality of students
6) Provide quality education services to specific groups
7) Develop “Internet plus” vocational secondary education
Task 5: Advance the construction of a smart OUC
1) Build an intelligent education platform
2) Research and develop a customised “digital teacher” system serving lifelong learning
3) Create model intelligent study centres
4) Improve the guarantee system for a smart OUC
Task 6: Enhance the construction of disciplines and majors
Task 7: Develop strong external education
1) Create a new model of external training
2) Open up new prospects for community education
Task 8: Improve the quality of education for older adults
1) Make every effort to prepare for the establishment of a national university for older adults
2) Serve the construction of an education system for older adults
3) Actively explore a cooperation mechanism for education for older adults
Task 9: Deepen the integration of industry and education and cooperation between enterprises and colleges
1) Improve the system and mechanism of running the OUC in cooperation with industries and enterprises
2) Steadily promote the construction of industry (enterprise) colleges
Task 10: Implement credit bank construction and application
1) Carry out the operation plan for the National Credit Bank for Vocational Education
2) Actively pursue the task of national credit bank construction
3) Explore the application practices of the credit bank
Task 11: Upgrade the level of international education
1) Promote international cooperation and exchanges
2) Promote the internationalisation of learner development
3) Cultivate an international teaching team
IV. Implementation Guarantees
(I) Improve the organisational system
(II) Optimise the implementation mechanism
(III) Improve the conditions that ensure implementation
(IV) Strengthen publicity and guidance
By OUC