Following guidance from the 20th CPC National Congress and requirements of the National Strategy for Educational Digitalization, the Open University of China (OUC) has launched the Lifelong Education Platform and founded the Seniors University of China (SUC), with remarkable results in building a learning society through digitalization.
Since its launch in May 2022, the Lifelong Education Platform has served nearly 60 million lifelong learners from 200 countries and regions. The platform has gathered more than 1.03 million resource items, with 6.8 million registered users accumulating over 1.1 million learning hours. By exploring the application of new technologies, the platform has launched the smart learning companion “Baize” to provide personalized support services for lifelong learning. It has also implemented iterative upgrades to improve user experience, especially for special groups, with “Care Mode” and “Elderly Mode” launched to meet the needs of disabled and/or aged users, respectively. Additionally, the platform offers functions such as lifelong learning records and course completion certificates through the National Credit Bank of Vocational Education.
Since its establishment in March 2023, SUC has made outstanding progress. It has accelerated the development of a learning service system by setting up 55,000 community learning centers serving 22.14 million senior citizens. Its National Public Service Platform for Elderly Education has a catalogue of 436,000 courses totaling 4.089 million minutes, with over 2.35 million users and a total of 57.08 million views. Ten renowned artists have been invited to produce 10 art education courses, benefiting more than 522,000 students with a total of over 15.8 million online views. In addition, the Active Health Academy has been founded and an active health curriculum system has been initiated. Several special events have been organized, featuring well-known experts giving talks or lectures, all with broad online coverage and a positive response from the public.
In the future, OUC will roll out the “Double-Ten Action Plan” through both the Lifelong Education Platform and SUC to further drive digitally enabled development of a learning society. Aiming to facilitate the integration of modern information technologies in education and the sharing of high-quality educational resources, the platform will continuously carry out 10 actions. These include supporting AI-empowered lifelong learning, and providing services in support of education “going global,” rural revitalization, innovation and entrepreneurship, and women’s development, promoting lifelong learning records, building public learning classrooms, enhancing digital literacy, promoting reading nationwide, and promoting lifelong learning in communities.
Likewise, SUC will implement the following 10 actions: establishment of institutional mechanisms, development of school-governance systems, quality improvement of course resources, platform development and promotion, development of the teaching force, credit bank services, academic research and improvement, promotion of international exchange, construction of demonstration bases, and support for brand activities. By the end of 2025, a new university for the seniors that is suited to China’s national conditions will be established, with clear positioning, distinctive features, open resources, flexible learning methods, and influence throughout the world. This university is expected to lead the innovation and development of elderly education, contributing to the development of a society built on lifelong learning and helping to address population aging.
