In order to fully carry out the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress and its Third Plenary Session and Fourth Plenary Session, solidly push forward the implementation of National Outline for Medium- and Long-term Educational Reform and Development, and implement the relative requirements of “Suggestions on the Implementation of Deepening the Reform of Examination and Enrollment System” of the State Council;
and due to the remarkable results achieved in the research and practice programme related to the accreditation, accumulation and transfer of learning outcomes in continuing education across the country, the Department of Vocational and Adult Education (DVAE) of the Ministry of Education(MOE) once again commissioned the OUC to undertake the “pilot project for accreditation, accumulation and transfer of learning outcomes of continuing education” (DVAE Letter [2014] No.157).
For promoting the development and implementation of the trial work in a practical way, the OUC convened a seminar on the pilot project of accreditation, accumulation and transfer of learning outcomes in continuing education in Beijing on July 2, 2015 to discuss the trial work with leaders and experts of MOE’s DVAE and representatives of local open universities. Mr. Li Linshu, Vice President of the Open University of China(OUC) and Director of the Credit Bank, hosted the meeting.
Liu Ying, Head of the Distance and Continuing Education Division of the DVAE, Liu Zhipeng, Standing Vice President of China Adult Education Association(CAEA), Wang Chunhui, CAEA Vice President, Li Defang, Standing Vice Secretary-General of the Modern Distance Education Cooperative Group of National Colleges and Universities, along with school leaders and responsible personages in charge of relevant departments in Beijing Open University (Beijing OU), Shanghai OU, Jiangsu OU, Guangdong OU, Yunnan OU, and people in charge of the credit bank and relative departments of the OUC, took part in the discussion about the trial work.
Mr. Yan Xiaoping, the Standing Vice Director of the OUC Credit Bank, introduced the project implementation progress and the construction of the credit bank of the OUC; Vice Director Ji Xin introduced thoughts on the trial work based on the pilot tasks. Based upon their practicable explorations, local open universities also discussed the construction progress of their own credit banks respectively.
Attending representatives agreed that the trial construction work plays a very significant role in advancing reform of the learner development model of open universities, expanding the learner development channels, setting up learner growth bridges for lifelong learning and promoting the construction of a learning society. However, it also requires long-term and complicated system construction, which needs the state to carry on top-level design, introduce relative policies, and especially, to coordinate plans and show directions in such links as standard construction. In addition, the local open universities could also combine the actual local situations into the exploration of paths for the construction of the credit bank in the country, and at the same time become an important support for promoting the construction of a learning society at the local level. For the trial work, the task allocation should be clearer; the OUC and local open universities should exert their own advantages and work together to push forward the pilot programme. The selection of projects should consider the actual need and the degree of exhibition. The local open universities all expressed that they were willing to positively work together with the OUC to complete the trial work.
Liu Ying said that promoting the system of accreditation, accumulation and transfer of the learning outcomes was an important task for the OUC’s strategic transformation. Therefore, the pilot work is very meaningful for the OUC’s development and it should be carried out along with the educational reform of the OUC. In the face of the current pressing situation and arduous tasks, the new government required that all work should be accelerated and put into practice as soon as possible. At present, local credit banks, colleges and universities all carried out practicable explorations into the accreditation, accumulation and transfer of learning outcomes. The mutual recognition of different types of learning outcomes was the main need, which was difficult to implement. Through wide and deep research and practices in the earlier stage, the OUC has proposed the technical route of “Frame + Standard”. However as for issues relating to how to coordinate and push forward different interest subjects to participate in the practice and what kind of role to play, they needed to be implemented through trial work and be pushed forward step by step. As a result, all parties should coordinate their plans and join forces to make key breakthroughs while being guided by demands, make practical corrections step by step, continue to perfect and develop the technical route of “Frame + Standard”, and explore means for the ultimate establishment of a national credit bank system.
The main task of the “pilot work of accreditation, accumulation and transfer of learning outcomes of continuing education” was to carry out the construction trial work in such aspects as continuing education learning outcomes framework, accreditation standard of learning outcomes for different industries, alliance of mutual recognition of learning outcomes, information management platform of “credit bank” and accreditation service platform system and so on, and to explore different types of accreditation, accumulation and transfer patterns for learning outcomes by local open universities, relevant industries, colleges, universities and training institutions. The OUC will convene successive trial work seminars attended by the representatives from the industries, training institutions and enterprises, continue to comb through the knowledge gained via the trial work and reach consensuses so as to lay a foundation for the formal starting and complete implementation of the trial work in the future.
By Li Lingqun, OUC