By Staff Reporter Meng Fanhua

According to the “National Medium and Long-Term Planning Outline for Education Reform and Development (2010-2020)” published in July 2010, the urban and rural community education should widely be developed, various study organizations should be constructed at faster speed, and in 2020, a lifelong learning society joined by all people should be built.

Therefore, how to develop the mass-oriented community educational resources, how to satisfy people’s strong desire for study with diversified and practical teaching contents and flexible teaching hours, and how to form a lifelong learning system covering both urban and rural areas should be the major topics for comprehensively building the study-oriented society.

On December 4, 2010, the Ministry of Education held a National Community Education Working Symposium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The meeting with the theme of “widely developing community education and promoting the study-oriented society construction”, summarized the practices and experiences of local community education, analyzed the new situation and opportunities for community education, and assigned tasks for the community education work in the next stage. On the meeting, 34 community education exemplary regions elected in 2008 and 34 communities elected this year were awarded the title of model community education area.

Since 2001, the Ministry of Education has determined 4 batches of 114 national community education experimental areas, which have promoted the progress of community education work nationwide. In this year, the Ministry has allowed 68 communities to start as exemplary education communities. In this regard, the sector (community education) has transitioned from experimental to exemplary and has taken a leap forward.

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