China: country information in Latchem et al. 1999

Open universities

China's Radio and Television Universities (RTVUS) constitute the world's largest distance teaching university system. This vast nation-wide network was established in 1979 to increase participation, pursue 'the four modernizations' and serve the needs of the 'lost generation' of the Cultural Revolution. The hub of the network is the Central Radio and Television University in Beijing which provides the curriculum design, course development and academic and administrative support for 44 provincial RTVUs which in turn feed into 823 city branch schools, 1,713 county work stations. 13.176 television-based classrooms and 53,000 centers for viewing recorded material (ICEM, 1998). This centralized 'remote classroom' model with its scheduled tele-lectures is being gradually replaced by more devolved management and delivery systems and greater use of self-study methods (Sun, 1997). In 1997, 710.829 students were enrolled in RTVU degree programs and a further 605,719 in sub-degree programs. Between 1979 and 1996 2.95 million students registered with, and 2.13 million students or about 14% of the nation's graduates graduated through, the RTVUs (Sun & Li. 1997; Ding, 1998). Some of the RTVUs have enrollments of 90,000, which almost qualifies them as mega-universities in their own right. Nevertheless. set against the enormous population, need for development and desire for a greater role in the global economy, China still has a long way to go in achieving mass higher education.

Dual mode universities

A growing number of conventional Asian universities provide programs in the on- and off-campus modes, or more commonly, some mix of the two. In China, the Tsinghua, Nanjing and Zhejiang Universities deliver distance education programs via satellite and there is a longstanding tradition of conventional universities providing correspondence courses.

Self-study

In 1983. in response to the demands of the socialist market economy, the Chinese Ministry of Education also established the Self-taught Higher Education Examinations (STHEE) system. Here entry, is open to everyone prepared to pay the fees, regardless of educational background, gender, age, or ethnicity. A national office in Beijing sets the policies, compiles the textbooks, provides the examination syllabuses and manages the network of provincial STHEE offices. The students have to manage their own learning, taking guidance from the examination syllabuses and textbooks and whatever community or institutional resources may be available to them Twice-Nearly examinations are held nation-wide in temporary test rooms and successful students gain credit towards sub-degree qualifications or degrees. By the end of 1996, STHEE could claim 20 million enrollees, 6.1 million examinees and over 1.5 million graduates. 76.000 of whom had passed the degree level examinations and 8.000 of whom had completed their theses or practical studies and been awarded bachelor degrees (STHEE, 1997).

Borderless education

Overseas universities currently offer over 300 distance courses in Hong Kong (Cunningham op cit.) and UK, Australian, American and other distance teaching universities are keen to expand their operations in Asia. Asia's distance teaching universities are also internationalizing their operations. Indira Gandhi National Open University delivers courses into the Middle East and Seychelles, the Macao-based Asia International Open University markets its programs in Hong Kong and China, Malaysia's Universiti Telekom has enrolled students from Europe, Africa and Asia and other Malaysian and Singaporean universities are positioning themselves to be international providers.

Internet

Internet provision is currently restricted to the already privileged regions, institutions and students. The 1998 Chinese Internet Information Center (CIEC) survey recorded 1. 175 million networked users out of a population of 1.2 billion. The majority of these were male and in Beijing, Shanghai and the more economically developed provinces. There was virtually no Internet provision in the remoter provinces or minority nationality regions. Some universities have set up Web Classrooms on the Internet but only 4% of the 9,415 domain names under 'cn' (China). are currently categorized as educational institutions (China Computerworld, 1998). The CIEC was established in 1997 with authorization from China Telecom to monitor and develop new technologies and set standards for distance learning, administration methods, technologies, market demand and pricing. China's first virtual institution, the Multimedia Information Education College of Hunan University, was established in 1997 and the CIEC has entered into agreements with at least 10 other universities to enroll an initial 3.000 students on Internet-based undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 1998. The CIEC has also entered into an agreement with Western Governors University for collaborative distance learning initiatives (Western Governors University, 1998).

Outcomes

There have been notable achievements in access and equity. Some 70% of Sukhotai Thammathirat Open University), students reside outside the Bangkok metropolitan area (Teswanitch, 1994) and the China RTVUs have significantly increased higher education participation in the remote and minority nationality regions (Sun & Li. 1997- Ding, 1998). The average undergraduate pass rate is about 80% and the on-time graduation rate about 70% (Sung, 1997; Ding, 1998). RTVU graduates have improved their capabilities and career prospects, are well regarded by employers and in some cases, proceed to postgraduate study (Huang & Zhao, 1990; Ding. 1998).

References

China Computerworld (1998). Chinese Internet Information Center 1998 statistics report on China's development of the Internet. China Computerworld, 20 July. Internet/Intranet GI.

Huang, Y. & Zhao. Y. (Eds.). Report on the first trace study of graduates from China's RTVUS. China RTVU Education (9). 13-48 and (10), 42-48.

ICEM (I 998). The '98 communique of basic statistics of China RTVUs Education. China RTVU Education (3). Beijing: Central Radio and TV University Information Center of Educational Management.

STHEE (1997). Introduction to Self-taught Higher Education Examinations program in China. Bejing: The Office of National Steering Committee of Self-taught Higher Education Examinations.

Sun, L. Y. (1997). A pilot program of enrolling 'free entrance students' in China's RTVUs and its quality-assurance. Proceedings of the 11th Asian Association of Open Universities Conference, Quality Assurance in Distance & Open Learning: Volume 1, November 11-14, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia, 245-250.

Sun, L. Y. & Li, G. B. (Eds.) (1997). 1996 Education statistics yearbook of Radio and Television Universities in China. Beijing: China Central Television University Publishing House.