On October 25, 2013, Zhejiang Lifelong Learning for All Activity Week was launched at the West Lake Cultural Plaza in Hangzhou. “Learning Square • Zhejiang Lifelong Learning Online”, a programme developed and run by Zhejiang Radio & TV University (RTVU), was opened at the same time along with the Community Education Centre of Zhejiang.
Under the theme of “Learning happily, living blissfully and realizing the Zhejiang dream”, Zhejiang Lifelong Learning for All Activity Week was sponsored by the Zhejiang Education Department, the Communist Party of China’s Hangzhou Committee Publicity Department and the Hangzhou Education Bureau. Co-organized by the Community Education Centre of Zhejiang and Zhejiang Open Education Group and supported by the Xiacheng District Government, the week-long activities aimed to popularize lifelong education and enhance people’s quality of life under the broader goal of creating a stable, harmonious, civilized and healthy city.
“Learning Square • Zhejiang Lifelong Learning Online” is a pilot project of the central government’s 12th Five-Year Plan in line with the educational digitization of Zhejiang and as a public service platform to facilitate lifelong learning sponsored by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Development of its first phase has been completed and is in operation. At the site of the activity, people were given score cards for lifelong learning issued by the Community Education Centre of Zhejiang. The cards allow them to fully utilize the free course resources of the platform and independently learn about fields including finance and investment, healthcare, employment skills and so on.
In addition to Zhejiang Lifelong Learning for All Activity Week, a series of activities are also slated to be held in many other cities in the province including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Huzhou, Taizhou and Zhoushan. Promoting the notion of lifelong learning in the hearts of people aims to set a constructive trend and foster an atmosphere of lifelong learning.
The launch ceremony was attended by guests and leaders from UNESCO, the Department of Vocational and Adult Education of the MOE, China Adult Education Association and Demonstration Site of National Community Education, Zhejiang Education Department and Community Education Centre of Zhejiang. Also in attendance were 10 organizers in Hangzhou, representatives of relevant fields in province-wide community education, Zhejiang representatives from “A Hundred National Learning Stars of the People” and representatives of the “Scholarly Family” of Hangzhou.
By Xiang Haizhu, Zhejiang RTVU