On 20 April 2021, under the guidance of the Lifelong-learning Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Educational-development Strategy (CSEDS) and the Chengdu Education Bureau, the Chengdu Office for the Promotion of Lifelong Education and Chengdu Open University (Chengdu OU) jointly held a ceremony for the establishment of the Southwest China Lifelong-learning Research Centre, a division of the CSEDS Lifelong-learning Professional Committee.
Wu Xiaochuan, executive vice-chair of the committee, said that the establishment of the centre is a milestone. In the future, the committee will provide it with expert support, sharing the latest results of scientific research. The centre is expected to promote innovation and lifelong education in Southwest China and throughout the country.
Xie Yuxin, deputy secretary of the Party committee, and president of Chengdu OU, described how the centre, after its establishment, will rely on the Lifelong-learning Professional Committee to strengthen continuing education in Chengdu, becoming better at learning from related models, extending its successes to other parts of Southwest China and even the rest of the country, and enhancing the influence and reputation of continuing education in Chengdu.
A leader of the Chengdu Education Bureau pointed out that the establishment of this centre recognizes the work undertaken in Chengdu on behalf of continuing education, and the expectation that Chengdu will play a leading role in its development in Southwest China. He stressed that Chengdu should take the opportunity to promote this development by strengthening high-level leadership of scientific research, promoting the role of the centre in guiding research in Southwest China, and building an interactive platform to enhance coordinated development of the region. Pledges were also made to carry out both practical and theoretical work so as to promote life-long education in Chengdu and inject new vitality into the city.
Among the experts giving reports, Wu Xiaochuan spoke of new development-strategies and dynamics, acceleration of improvements to lifelong-learning services, understanding of the relevant uses of artificial intelligence, and strategies for establishing learning organisations, in a speech titled Main Tasks of Learning-city Construction in China in the New Era. Yang Shuyu, vice-chair and Secretary General of the CSEDS Lifelong-learning Professional Committee, delivered a speech called Analysis of Older-adult Education Research and Policy in China in the New Era, in which he analyzed the relevant research and policy of the past 30 years, as well as existing problems in the development of education of older adults in China.
By Chengdu OU