On 28 April 2022, a meeting to launch the committee for the Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme of the Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education (CSTVE) was held in Beijing and Cangzhou.
The meeting was attended online by personnel including Lu Xin, chairperson of the CSTVE and former vice minister of the Ministry of Education (MOE); Liu Ying, second-level inspector of the MOE’s Department of Vocational and Adult Education and director of the Office of Continuing Education; Zhang Chunsheng, vice director of Hebei Provincial Department of Education; Xiang Hui and Wang Xiaoling, mayor and vice mayor of Heibei Cangzhou Municipal People’s Government; Jing Degang, secretary of the Party Committee and president of the Open University of China (OUC); Liu Jian, secretary of the Party Committee of Cangzhou Medical College; and Dang Jianwu, deputy director of the China Scientific Research Centre on Aging. The meeting was held both online and offline and attracted around 1,000 online participants from vocational colleges and leading enterprises around China, as well as institutional members of the committee for the Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme. Ms. Fan Xianrui, OUC vice president, presided over the meeting.
Liu Ying noted in her speech that in the context of China’s intensified population ageing and low birth rate, the establishment of the committee for the Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme by the CSTVE’s is a practical action to implement the deployments of the central government as well as to serve major strategies of the State. Liu Ying raised several expectations for the OUC in its guiding role as the committee’s secretariat in the aspects of conducting exchanges of scientific and educational research, the integration of industry and education, international exchanges, providing support for the programme construction, and the construction of teaching teams.
Jing Degang said that the OUC is honoured to be entrusted as the CSTVE’s secretariat for the committee for Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme. The OUC is currently making every effort to prepare for the establishment of a national university for older adults in compliance with the requirements of the State Council. Jing Degang also shared his perspectives on how to successfully operate education for older adults in the new era.
During the meeting, the executive director, deputy director, standing committee members, and members were elected for the first session of the CSTVE’s committee for Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme. Lu Xin was elected as the director and Fan Xianrui and Liu Jian were elected as executive directors. Forty units from undergraduate and higher vocational colleges and leading enterprises in the industry were elected as deputy director units. Cai Xiaoru from Cangzhou Medical College was elected as the secretary general of the committee.
The CSTVE’s committee for Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme is a special institution engaged in the vocational education of the Old Age Health Preservation and Childhood Nurturing Programme and learner development in the form of open education, in line with the national strategy for older adults and children. The committee aims to bring together first-class domestic expert resources in this field and offer policy counseling and advice in supply-side reform for professionals in the field of old age and childhood support. It hopes to lead the development of national vocational education in old age health preservation and childhood nurturing, serving the initiative of “Healthy China” and the strategy of “proactively responding to population ageing” so as to boost the sustainable and healthy development of care for older adults and the childhood nurturing industry.
By Ma Songxin, OUC