The person in charge of the Department of Vocational Education and Adult Education of the Ministry o

In order to strengthen the overall planning and macro-management of the professional setting of continuing education for higher education, and to promote the healthy, orderly and coordinated development of continuing education for various types of higher education, the Ministry of Education recently issued the "Administrative Measures for the Setting of Continuing Education for Higher Education" (the following Referred to as the "Administrative Measures"), the person in charge of the Department of Vocational Education and Adult Education of the Ministry of Education answered questions from reporters on relevant issues.

Question: Please briefly introduce the background and significance of the formulation of the Administrative Measures.

A: The setting of majors is the basic work of personnel training in continuing education with higher education, which is related to the goals and specifications of personnel training, the quality and efficiency of education, and the coordination and adaptation of continuing education with higher education and economic and social development.

In order to promote the construction of the basic system of continuing education and effectively improve the standardization level and quality of continuing education for higher education, in recent years, the Ministry of Education has systematically analyzed the current problems and situations in the professional setting of continuing education with higher education on the basis of serious investigations. From the point of view of the management system, the establishment of full-time undergraduate and junior college majors in ordinary colleges and universities is guided by special documents, while the establishment of continuing education majors with higher education has long been based on full-time education, and there is a lack of targeted normative documents in the management of majors. . Judging from the current situation of professional setting, higher education continuing education has diverse subjects, various forms, and different professional settings. Some majors have problems such as shrinking social demand, outdated content, narrow caliber, too small student scale, and irregular names. Coordinate specifications. Judging from the requirements for streamlining administration and delegating powers and changing management methods, in recent years, the higher education sector has increased the provincial government's power to coordinate education and the autonomy of colleges and universities to run schools. Since 2015, the examination and approval authority for self-study examinations in higher education and the specialties of junior colleges have been cancelled one after another. According to the relevant requirements of the State Council on the combination of "decentralization, regulation and service", the supervision measures during and after the event of professional setting are urgently needed to be followed up. To sum up, to study, formulate and issue the "Administrative Measures" is a solid and strong strategy for strengthening the basic system construction of continuing education for higher education and improving the level of professional management at the national level.

Q: What are the ideas for the formulation of the "Administrative Measures"?

Answer: The "Administrative Measures" is the first document of the Ministry of Education to coordinate and standardize the professional setting of continuing education for higher education. , strengthen process supervision and information services. Mainly reflected in four aspects: First, unified policy. Unify the management policies for the establishment of various higher education continuing education majors held by ordinary undergraduate schools, higher vocational schools, open universities, and independent adult colleges and universities and the opening of self-study examinations. The second is directory management. On the basis of the catalogues of basic and junior college majors in ordinary colleges and universities, combined with the characteristics of continuing education, the "Supplementary Professional Catalogue for Higher Education Continuing Education" has been formulated, which not only solves the problem of linking with full-time undergraduate and junior college majors, but also reflects the normative; Economic and social development and the diverse needs of learners reflect the flexibility of continuing education. The third is to inform management. Except that the setting of state-controlled majors should be managed in accordance with the existing approval methods of the Ministry of Education, colleges and universities can independently set up and adjust continuing education majors with higher education in accordance with relevant regulations. The fourth is information management. The Ministry of Education will establish a national professional management and public information service platform for higher education continuing education, and implement full-process information management and services for the professional setting of higher education continuing education.

Q: Could you briefly introduce the main contents of the "Administrative Measures"?

A: The "Administrative Measures" contains 5 chapters and 21 articles, including the following aspects:

(1) General rules. The first is to clarify the basis for the formulation of the document, the scope of application and the division of responsibilities; the second is to propose that the establishment of higher education continuing education majors in colleges and universities should be based on the school's own school-running capabilities, give full play to the advantages and characteristics of running schools, actively adapt to the needs of national strategies and economic and social development, and adhere to lifelong The learning concept is oriented to meet the needs of learners' learning and development, focusing on the improvement of learners' professional ability, following the laws of higher education and the growth of professional talents, and cultivating application-oriented talents with high comprehensive quality, adapting to the needs of career development, and innovative consciousness The third is to propose that the Ministry of Education should organize the establishment of an expert organization for reviewing the professional setting of higher education and continuing education, and that provincial education administrative departments and universities should set up corresponding expert organizations to give full play to the role of expert organizations in professional setting, construction, supervision and evaluation. The Ministry of Education has established a national professional management and public information service platform for higher education continuing education to improve the level of information management.

(2) Professional catalogue. The first is to clarify that the catalogue of continuing education for higher education and junior college majors consists of the "Undergraduate Majors Catalogue in Ordinary Colleges and Universities", "Junior Colleges and Universities Higher Vocational Education Junior College Majors Catalogue" and "Higher Education Continuing Education Supplementary Major Catalogue" (applicable to Open University, independent setting The second is to put forward the principle of timely adjustment and dynamic management of the supplementary professional catalogues for higher education continuing education. Relevant departments and schools will put forward professional supplementary suggestions, and the Ministry of Education will organize experts to issue them to the public in due course. The third is to clarify that the state-controlled majors in continuing education for higher education are mainly the state-controlled majors that have been identified in the current "Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities" and "Specialty Catalogue for Higher Vocational Education in Regular Colleges and Universities", and no new state-controlled majors will be added.

(3) Basic conditions and procedures for professional setting. First, it is proposed that colleges and universities should have four basic conditions to set up continuing education majors with higher degrees. The second is to clarify that ordinary undergraduate colleges and higher vocational schools must set up higher education continuing education and junior college majors within the scope of full-time education and junior college majors that have been established in the school, and can set professional directions according to social needs. The third is to clarify that Open University and independent adult colleges and universities set up continuing education majors for higher education according to their own school-running conditions. New majors need to go through procedures such as material declaration, publicity, overall planning by the provincial education administrative department, and announcement by the Ministry of Education. For national control majors, it can only be set up after procedures such as material declaration and publicity, comments from provincial education administrative departments and relevant industry authorities, and approval by the Ministry of Education in accordance with the law. The fourth is to clarify that the National Higher Education Self-study Examination Steering Committee (referred to as the National Examination Committee), within the scope of the higher education continuing education and junior college majors, determines the list of majors for the higher education self-study examination, and formulates the basic norms for corresponding majors. Provincial examination committees and The Military Examination Committee shall select the majors for the self-study examination within the scope of the list.

(4) Monitoring and evaluation. One is to make full use of the information platform for supervision. The Ministry of Education, the National Examination Committee and the provincial education administrative departments can monitor and grasp the professional setting and dynamic information of higher education continuing education through the information platform. The second is to supervise by establishing a system. It is proposed to establish a supervision system and an evaluation mechanism involving the participation of educational administrative departments, industry organizations, third-party institutions, and universities. In particular, the provincial education administrative departments should strengthen the supervision and evaluation of the construction of continuing education majors in colleges and universities within their administrative regions, and the evaluation results should be used as the basis for continuing enrollment or suspending enrollment in the major. The third is to require colleges and universities to strengthen the professional construction of higher education continuing education, and to establish and improve a self-evaluation mechanism. Encourage the introduction of specialized institutions or social third-party institutions to evaluate and certify the level and quality of continuing education for higher education.

(5) Supplementary Provisions. It is mainly to require the National Examination Committee and the provincial education administrative departments to formulate detailed implementation rules in accordance with these measures, and report them to the Ministry of Education for recordation before implementation.

Question: After the "Administrative Measures" are issued, what adjustments will regular institutions of higher learning need to make in setting up continuing education majors?

Answer: The "Administrative Measures" clearly stipulates that "general undergraduate colleges and higher vocational schools must set up continuing education programs and junior college majors within the scope of full-time education programs and junior college majors already established by the school". After the implementation of this policy, ordinary colleges and universities will no longer hold continuing education for academic qualifications outside the scope of their full-time education majors; ordinary undergraduate colleges and universities that do not hold full-time junior college-level education will no longer hold junior college-level continuing education. This regulation is mainly aimed at using the advantages of ordinary undergraduate colleges and higher vocational schools to hold full-time undergraduate and junior college education respectively, and use them to organize continuing education at the corresponding academic level, and further promote the connotative development. Arrangements made. Ordinary undergraduate colleges and higher vocational schools should fully rely on the school's own advantages in disciplines, majors, and teachers, incorporate continuing education with academic qualifications into the school's overall development plan and talent training system, and coordinate the coordinated development of full-time education and continuing education in the school. The school-running level, type, scale and quality of continuing education in colleges and universities should be adapted to the school-running orientation, school-running conditions and social reputation.

Q: The catalogue of continuing education and junior college majors consists of three parts. What is the consideration?

A: Taking into account the overall development of continuing education, general education, vocational education, and the promotion of various learning achievement certification, accumulation and conversion work, the catalogues of continuing education and junior college majors for higher education are determined by the “Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities” and the “Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities”. The Catalogue of Specialties for Higher Vocational Education and the Catalogue of Supplementary Specialties for Continuing Education with Higher Diplomas is composed of three parts. Ordinary undergraduate colleges and universities, higher vocational colleges, Open University, independent adult colleges and universities and higher education self-study examinations can independently set up continuing education majors for higher education in the catalog in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Administrative Measures", and set professional directions according to social needs. For the majors that have been opened outside the full-time major catalog for a long time, we have sorted out the majors and organized experts to fully demonstrate them. We have properly reserved majors that can meet the diverse needs of social members and reflect the characteristics of continuing education. , Independently set up the "Supplementary Major Catalogue" for adult colleges and self-study examinations (currently including 13 undergraduate majors and 17 junior college majors), the supplementary catalogue will be adjusted in time in the future, and dynamic management will be implemented to gradually solve continuing education. The problem of closer connection between the undergraduate and junior college majors.

Q: After the "Administrative Measures" are promulgated and implemented, what are the considerations for the follow-up management work?

A: Scientifically and rationally setting majors, strengthening majors, and optimizing the layout of continuing education majors are not only one of the basic links in the teaching reform of higher continuing education, but also the main content to further standardize management and strengthen connotation construction. In the "Notice of the Ministry of Education on Printing and Distributing the "Administrative Measures for Continuing Education for Higher Education" (Jiaozhicheng [2016] No. 7), relevant requirements have been put forward for follow-up work. In the next step, colleges and universities in all regions should conscientiously implement the requirements of the "Administrative Measures", and compare the current "Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities", "Catalogue of Specialties in Higher Vocational Education in Regular Colleges and Universities" and "Catalogue of Supplementary Majors in Continuing Education for Higher Education". The established basic and specialized majors are sorted out, adjusted and standardized. In 2017, colleges and universities in all regions should do a good job in the declaration of the majors to be recruited through the National Higher Education Continuing Education Professional Management and Public Information Service Platform (the platform activation will be notified separately). Since 2018, newly enrolled students of continuing education with academic qualifications in schools all over the country will be recruited according to the majors in the catalog. In accordance with the principle of "old methods for the elderly, new methods for the new", current students are still trained until graduation according to their original majors. The relevant regulations for the majors of the higher education self-study examination shall be issued by the National Higher Education Self-study Examination Steering Committee in accordance with the "Administrative Measures".

The "Administrative Measures" is the first document issued by the Ministry of Education to regulate the professional setting of continuing education for higher education. Lifting also plays a very important role. All provincial education administrative departments and colleges and universities should strengthen their leadership, organize publicity, study and implementation, and ensure the smooth implementation of the "Administrative Measures". The Ministry of Education will take the promulgation of the "Administrative Measures" as an opportunity to further promote the standardized management and connotation construction of higher continuing education, continuously deepen the teaching reform of higher continuing education, continuously enhance the pertinence and effectiveness of continuing education, and comprehensively improve the quality of continuing education. and service level, promote the continuous, coordinated and healthy development of continuing education in colleges and universities, and provide strong support and guarantee for promoting education fairness, building a learning society, and realizing the grand goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way.