On October 15th, the opening ceremony of Degree Promotion Class for Grassroots Cadres of the Village (Community) and Women's Federation in Suqian (“Double Promotion Class”) was held at Suqian Open University. Wang Jianming, Secretary of JSOU’s Party Committee, Jin Lixia, Deputy Secretary and Vice President, Hu Ganjiang, Deputy Director of the Organization Department of Suqian Municipal Party Committee, and Liu Juan, Chairman of Suqian Women's Federation, attended the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Zheng Mingfu, Secretary and President of Suqian Open University.
In order to improve the academic qualifications of grassroots cadres, in the first half of this year, the enrollment of “Double Promotion Class” has started. As of October 15th, 115 village (community) cadres and 50 from the women's federation were officially enrolled, with majors in administrative management, agricultural resources and environment, and more. Although students have different working and professional backgrounds, they all have a common goal: to improve knowledge, enhance practical skills and better serve the grassroots governance.
Wang Jianming started his speech by quoting Engels, In any given society, the degree of women’s emancipation is the natural measure of the general emancipation”. It is a symbol of social civilization and progress that women go out of their home to the society and pursue academic development. The purpose of setting up the “Double Promotion Class” is to enable more women and grassroots cadres to develop themselves, serve the society and contribute to the country. The program also enables Suqian Open University to develop to a new level with new features, and set a benchmark for municipal open universities. Secretary Wang sent a message to all students: to carry forward the concept of lifelong learning, make learning a way of life, apply the learning results to grassroots work, help local economic and social development, and grow as strivers, contributors, and dreamers in the new era.
Hu Ganjiang and Liu Juan spoke respectively, hoping that all the students would cherish the opportunity, apply what they learn, improve their abilities, better serve rural revitalization and grassroots governance, and truly become leaders of industrial development and pillars of grassroots organizations. Zheng Mingfu said that Suqian Open University will take the opening ceremony as an opportunity to actively adapt to the needs of village (community) reform and development, bettering support services and speeding up the systematization of community education. He hopes Suqian Open University continues to make greater contributions in serving Suqian's learning society construction and lifelong learning for all.
As a veteran who has worked as a secretary of the village-level Party branch for 12 years, Yang Dingsheng from Tangyang Village, Jieji Town, Sihong County, Suqian shared his understanding of the importance of learning. Yang, who has experienced many changes in the leadership of the village committee, said he felt that the staff's comprehensive quality and combat capability are constantly improving in that the new-come village cadres have higher academic qualifications and stronger learning ability. Yang didn't want to lag behind others despite his age and learning ability, so he took the initiative to sign up for the “Double Promotion Class”, hoping to make up for his shortcomings through painstaking efforts.
Han Xiaohua, Chairwoman of Xinyao Community Women's Federation, Hubin New District, who has only been engaged in grassroots women's federation work for about three years, is an alumna of JSOU. Graduate of Class of 2019, she further interpreted the importance of knowledge reserve and ability improvement to do grassroots work well. In her view, improving academic qualifications is not simply to obtain a diploma, but to enrich the knowledge base and ability. I will study, comprehend and internalize theoretical knowledge, work innovatively with a higher degree of integration of theory and practice, and serve as a caring grassroots worker for the people.
It is not only the advantage, but also the responsibility of an open university to actively meet the needs of local economy and social development, as well as the lifelong learning needs of learners of different types and backgrounds. Since JSOU began to carry out the Education Quality Improvement Project in 2020, it has trained college students who won’t go for the grassroots in Jiangsu province, and built a number of characteristic project brands.
