On 26 April 2024, the general opening ceremony for the 2024 National Lifelong Learning Activity Week was held in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.
The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (China National Committee on Aging), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, and the China Adult Education Association. It was undertaken by the People’s Government of Liaoning Province and State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC), jointly organised by the Open University of China (OUC), the Education Department of Liaoning Province, and Northeast Electric Power Company Limited under the SPIC. Deputy Minister of Education Wu Yan attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
Wu Yan emphasised that the Party Central Committee has placed great importance on the development of a learning society as a national strategic initiative. The MOE has been comprehensively implementing the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, focusing on creating a learning-oriented society in which all residents pursue lifelong study, and can study whenever and wherever they want to. Over the years, the MOE has persistently promoted the establishment of learning cities, communities, and organisations, hosting the National Lifelong Learning Activity Week annually. These efforts have led to the continuous improvement of policies and regulations, organisational structures, educational systems, and the enrichment of learning and educational resources. Consequently, China is steadily moving towards a learning-oriented society and nation.
In consolidating the consensus that a learning society is a standard feature of a strong educational nation, Wu Yan stressed that building a society and country that embrace lifelong learning is not only vital for promoting comprehensive human development and constructing a strong education system but also an essential element of achieving Chinese-style modernization. It is crucial to optimize the construction of a more flexible, convenient, and high-quality lifelong learning service system, enhance the continuing education system for industrial workers, establish a sound lifelong vocational skills training system, stimulate new productive forces within enterprises, and elevate the capacity of high-quality education services. Solidifying the digital foundation of a learning society, actively developing integrated and intelligent digital platforms, aggregating high-quality digital learning resources, and providing learners with one-stop, comprehensive, and full-process learning services are essential steps. Furthermore, improving the mechanism for promoting lifelong learning, which involves Party committee leadership, government coordination, social collaboration, and full public participation, will herald a new journey in the construction of a learning society.
The conference introduced the "Shenyang Initiative on National Lifelong Learning". Wang Qiming, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the OUC, along with Lin Yu, director of the Centre for Vocational Education Development of the MOE, Zhang Xiaohui, director of Publicity and Education Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, Wang Mingce, general manager and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Northeast Electric Power Company Limited under the SPIC, and Ge Siying, deputy secretary-general of the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, collectively launched the MOE and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions' action plan. This plan, titled "Fulfilling Dreams of Pursuing Education through Digital Empowerment," is designed for industrial workers. It includes the interconnection of the National Federation of Trade Unions' digital service platform for workers' education and training with the lifelong education platform of the Open University of China (OUC). Additionally, the launch ceremony marked the first central government-owned enterprise (SPIC) to integrate into Smart Education of China, the national vocational education platform.
Wang Qiming announced that the connectivity plan between the OUC’s Lifelong Education Platform and the All-China Trade Unions' digital service platform for workers' education and training has been officially launched. Taking this as a starting point, our next steps will focus on two main tasks: first, through interconnection, to achieve sharing of users, resources, and courses between the two platforms; second, to further leverage the strengths of the OUC educational system, empowering industrial workers through digital education to enhance their educational qualifications and technical skills. This initiative aims to create a new model of continuing education for workers, characterized by "integration of industry and education, school-enterprise cooperation," and "digital empowerment" for talent development in large enterprises.
It has been reported that the theme for the 2024 National Lifelong Learning Week is "Making Learning a Way of Life." Various activities will be coordinated by each province throughout the year, starting in April and continuing until early December 2024. The aim is to foster a national atmosphere characterized by weekly activities, each boasting unique features for different provinces, and promoting a strong culture of lifelong learning for all.
By Duo Ruo, Cui Keli, OUC