Page 112 - Open and Distance Education In Asia : Good Practice From AAOU Members

92 OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATON IN ASIA
Good Practices from AAOU Members

Exploration of A Credit Bank and qualifications by building a unified framework
Qualification Framework and formulating capacity standards.
The credit bank and qualification framework
play a vital role in achieving a connection Distance Education Poverty Alleviation
between formal education and informal Projects
education by recognizing various kinds of Distance education, as a form of highly
education and evaluating all kinds of results, costed-effective cross-regional teaching,
which will create a path to continuing plays a significant role in poverty alleviation
education and lifelong learning for all. through education. The OUC has carried
In 2012, the Ministry of Education entrusted out a series of poverty alleviation projects
the OUC to carry out the Research and through distance education. These projects
Practice of the Accreditation, Accumulation have helped to compensate for the shortage
and Transfer System of Learning Results of educational resources in the less-
for National Continuing Education project, developed areas and offered support for local
and formally launched the exploration economic and social development. The OUC
(Yang, 2017) of China’s credit bank system. launched the Long March Belt Educational
Subsequently, many other areas also started Project Targeted at Alleviating Poverty in
the construction of the credit bank, and the April 2017. With RMB 120 million of funding
OUC system credit bank and the local credit raised, the OUC planned to spend four
banks developed in parallel. In November years implementing degree education and
2017, the OUC learning platform Credit Bank non-degree education projects, as well as
Online was officially launched (Huang, 2017). projects funding infrastructure construction,
During the same period, 70 sub-centers for in 25 national poverty-stricken counties
learning achievement accreditation were in 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and
established in 31 provinces and 20 industries municipalities under the direct jurisdiction
across the country and credit bank accounts of the central government along the route of
were opened for nearly 4.8 million learners the Long March. (Wang, 2018). By December
(Huang, 2017). 2018, the OUC had invested RMB 24 million
with 25,031 direct beneficiaries (Li & Shao,
Research on credit bank construction has 2019).
laid a foundation for the exploration of a
qualification framework system. In 2018, the The OUC has also given long-term labor and
Ministry of Education once again entrusted skills trainings to primary and middle school
the OUC to complete a project with the teachers in poverty-stricken areas, funded
theme “Research on the Construction of the construction of “cloud classrooms” in
a National Credit Bank and Qualification local study centers through the “One College
Framework.” This project is dedicated to the Student per Village” program, and offered
design of a Chinese qualification framework assistance to the “Three Regions and Three
based on international comparisons that can Prefectures.”
achieve the coordination and management of

The Open University of China (OUC)