On September 29th, the licensing ceremony of the first batch of Silver Age Learning Center of Jiangsu Province (“the Center”) was held at Jiangsu Open University. Relevant leaders and personnel from the Education Department of Jiangsu and the Construction Committee of the Center attended the ceremony. Han Shunping, Chairman of the University and College Adult Education Research Association of Jiangsu and Dean of the Lifelong Education College of Nanjing University, presided over the ceremony.
Guo Xinyu, Second-Level Investigator of the Higher Education Department of the Education Department of Jiangsu, said that in recent years, the higher continuing education in our province has closely followed the concept of serving the public, standardizing school running, deepening teaching reform, and improving quality, and gradually established a multi-subject, wide-coverage and all-category pattern of continuing education in colleges and universities. Entrusted by the provincial Education Department, the University and College Adult Education Research Association of Jiangsu has selected the first batch of 17 Silver Age Learning Centers among Jiangsu universities. The Center belongs to the action plan of Jiangsu colleges and universities to serve the elderly education, which is part of the decision-making arrangement of the CPC Central Committee on actively responding to the aging of population and speeding up the establishment and improvement of the education system serving lifelong learning for all. Through the construction of about 50 Silver Age Learning Centers, the study channels will be unblocked for people aged 60 and above or retired. More than 70 kinds of non-academic education programs suitable for the elderly will be selected, so colleges and universities can give full play to their resource advantages, provide learning support services that conform to the habits and characteristics of the elderly, and create a service platform in colleges and universities to achieve healthy aging and positive aging in our province.
Ling Yuanyuan, Director of the Construction Committee, said that silver age learning centers in colleges and universities has the innate advantages in resources, teachers and forms. Running silver age learning centers requires highlighting characteristics, ensuring quality and standardization, considering the characteristics of the elderly, excelling in curriculum setting, and carrying out systematic teaching as well as personalized support services, so that the elderly can truly preserve their health and cultivate their well-being.
Zhang Xiao, Vice President of Jiangsu Open University, said that being licensed the first batch of Silver Age Center is an affirmation of the effectiveness of education for the elderly at JSOU. She introduced the exploration and achievements of our school's senior education. Relying on the radiation of a provincial system, JSOU gave full play to the advantages of distance education, and actively carried out academic and non-academic education for the elderly. Especially, the university focuses on the construction of culture and art for the elderly, organizes the application of special topics, and provides policy advice and countermeasures for the provincial party committee and government to formulate the evaluation index system for the elderly education. Relying on the four-level network system of community education and the community education university alliance, JSOU has developed 12 intelligent technology education for the elderly in community projects, created a series of micro-courses of elderly education, and built a studio of community education with characteristics of intelligent life. All of the measures have promoted the community education, and provided more convenient and targeted services for the elderly.
Subsequently, representatives from the first batch of Silver Age Learning Center of Jiangsu exchanged views on the education for the elderly. Our university will take the construction of the Center as a starting point, further strengthen the infrastructure and operation management of the Center, improve the supply quality of education for the elderly, and contribute JSOU's wisdom and strength to the development of education for the elderly in Jiangsu Province, as well as the construction of lifelong education system and learning society in Jiangsu.
