The Opening Ceremony of Lifelong Learning Week 2024 was held in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, on April 26. It was jointly organized by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and several other government agencies. Vice Minister of Education Wu Yan attended and spoke at the ceremony.
Wu said that the Central Committee attaches great importance to the creation of a learning society in which everyone can learn anywhere and anytime. He noted that the MOE had taken various measures to promote the development of learning cities, communities, and organizations. He said that these measures included, among others, organization of the annual Lifelong Learning Week and other awareness-raising activities, enhancement of related policies and regulations, improvement of the education system, and enrichment of learning resources.
Wu stressed that the creation of a learning society is not only an important means of boosting well-rounded personal development, but also an integral part of the national strategy of turning China into a modernized educational powerhouse. He called for more efforts in several areas: improving the continuing education system for industrial workers, enhancing the lifelong vocational skills training system, and developing integrated smart platforms that aggregate high-quality digital learning resources and provide one-stop comprehensive services for learners, etc. He also underlined the importance of several factors to the creation of a learning society, including leadership by Party committees, overall planning by relevant authorities, civil society involvement, and participation by all citizens.
During the opening ceremony, the Shenyang Initiative on Lifelong Learning for All was released. It signifies a broad consensus on lifelong learning and lays out future plans for creating a learning society. A list of 194 excellent learners and 91 projects were announced, to encourage the replication of good practices across the country.
A number of action plans were also launched at the event, including the “Empowerment of Industrial Workers Through Digital Learning” action plan jointly sponsored by the MOE and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), and the plan to build interconnection between the ACFTU’s Employee Digital Training Platform and the lifelong education platform of the National Open University. During the event, a ceremony was also held to mark the establishment of a partnership between the State Power Investment Group and the National Smart Vocational Education Platform.
Over 200 representatives from local educational authorities, open universities, senior universities, associations for adult education, and enterprises attended the opening ceremony.
