With China's entry into WTO and the arrival of the era of knowledge economy, comprehensive universities should adapt to the rapid development of science and technology, keep up with the world trend, track the world's scientific and technological frontier and economic development trend, and actively serve the development of economy, science and technology, culture, education and other social aspects. Some scholars point out that continuing education is the third function of colleges and universities (the first and second functions refer to teaching and scientific research respectively), that is, the function of directly serving the society. Continuing education is a new way for colleges and universities to face the challenges of science and technology, market, products and opportunities. It is an extension and supplement of ordinary higher education and a special form of education. In some western countries, continuing education has formed a university structure with three pillars: undergraduate education and postgraduate education. As early as 1987, China's former State Education Commission clearly pointed out that professional training, practical training, post-university continuing education and postgraduate education are a basic way to train senior professionals. Fudan University clearly listed continuing education as extended education in its school development strategy, affirmed its important role in cultivating talents for the society, and pointed out the need to expand the scale and further develop. Since 2000, adult education colleges in many ordinary universities (mostly comprehensive universities) have been renamed as continuing education colleges. This is not a simple name change, but in order to better integrate into the future development, broaden our thinking and provide better educational services for the society.
In addition, the continuing education of comprehensive universities can promote teaching, scientific research and production to enter a virtuous circle. The school has concentrated the functions of knowledge manufacturing, processing and dissemination. By holding all kinds of continuing education training courses, enterprises can accurately capture the latest information of knowledge updating and development in professional frontier fields and the actual needs of society, which is helpful to solve the problem of the disconnection between education and production, promote the development of scientific research in schools, make scientific research results market faster, transform them into productive forces, and generate extensive economic and social benefits. It can also enable the professional and technical personnel of the school to supplement new knowledge, new information and new skills in a certain period and occasion, improve their ability to solve practical problems, and at the same time educate themselves.
Second, the content and trend of developing continuing education in comprehensive universities
(1) A comprehensive university including arts, science, engineering and medicine can hold a wide range of continuing education programs.
The development of science and engineering in comprehensive universities is consistent with the development of industrial enterprises and scientific research institutions, and the two sides can cooperate closely and promote each other. Schools can undertake the task of training high-level theoretical research and engineering technicians, and continuously deliver high-quality theoretical research and engineering technicians for industrial enterprises and scientific research institutions. Continuing engineering education refers to the education of scientific and technical personnel engaged in education, scientific research, design, production and management related to engineering science, constantly updating their knowledge and widening the gap to adapt to the development of new technologies.
Liberal arts, such as journalism, law, economics and management, are in great demand because of their sociality and practicality. Holding such continuing education not only cultivates specialized talents, but also plays a great role in cultivating and improving the comprehensive ability of workers.
Comprehensive universities with strong medical education strength can also hold continuing medical education, so that health technicians can maintain noble professional ethics, constantly improve their professional work ability and professional level, and adapt to the development of medical science and technology and health undertakings. This has a long history abroad, and we should do better on the basis of learning from our predecessors.
(B) the main trends of continuing education in comprehensive universities
1, in the guiding ideology of running a school, establish a sense of advance and competition. With the establishment of the socialist market economic system, in the fierce market competition, the main managers of enterprises are required not only to be proficient in professional technology, but also to have a set of comprehensive knowledge necessary to participate in market competition, such as business skills, law, finance and so on. Therefore, the main managers of enterprises and institutions must become high-level compound talents. The college of continuing education in comprehensive universities should take the initiative to connect with the society, aiming at cultivating applied and compound talents, so as to make the way of continuing education wider and wider.
2. Technical training for the industry. For professional and technical personnel, continuing education is a shortcut to renew ideas, supplement knowledge, broaden knowledge, improve knowledge structure, enhance innovation consciousness, improve comprehensive ability and promote the combination of science, technology and economy. It is also an effective form to improve the overall quality of technicians and the competitive strength of talents. Comprehensive universities should give full play to their own brand advantages, proceed from reality, go deep into enterprises, and make projects and contents meet the needs of enterprises and employees. Carry out training activities according to the law of supply and demand in market economy, make continuing education close to the production and business activities of enterprises, and take the road of combining Industry-University-Research.
3, vigorously carry out qualification examination training. Under the situation that the national vocational qualification certificate and the market system are constantly legalized and standardized, the vocational qualification certificate is closely related to personal employment and economic development and has been highly valued. Comprehensive universities can, according to their own academic advantages, actively bid for the examination centers of corresponding majors recognized by the government and actively hold pre-examination training courses in different disciplines, such as computer grade examination, foreign language grade examination, legal and accounting qualification examination, etc. , so as to improve the vitality of running schools and expand contacts with society.
4. Strengthen international cooperation to carry out continuing education. Facing the global economic integration, comprehensive universities should further emancipate their minds. In addition to the development and utilization of the domestic market, they should also seize the opportunity to extend their eyes and tentacles to a broader space in the international market. It is a good way to carry out international cooperation in running schools, which can not only improve the ability of enterprise management talents to innovate and master the socialist market economy, but also make the school contribute to the national economic and technological development and continuously improve its popularity.
5. Use distance education to carry out continuing education. In terms of educational technology and means, we should actively use advanced modern educational technology, vigorously develop online education, promote educational modernization, informationization and networking of educational space, make continuing education a learning activity that can provide needed knowledge anytime and anywhere, and strive to establish a "learning society", which can also change the closed state of colleges and universities to a certain extent, and make them integrate with social production and life, making them more vibrant and energetic.
Three, several issues worthy of attention and clear
(A) the need to overcome the wrong idea that "the main task of colleges and universities is teaching and scientific research, and continuing education is dispensable". People realize that continuing education, which can create both social and economic benefits, is one of the indispensable functions of colleges and universities, and should be included in the overall planning of school development. With the development of school scale, its proportion in talent training in colleges and universities will continue to increase.
(2) Continuing education must take the road of industrialization. Educational labor is the labor of cultivating people. Although it does not take the pursuit of economic interests as its sole purpose, it can cultivate talents and create social and cultural values. Modern educational theory holds that higher education is a special industry. There is a heated debate about the industrialization of education in the education field, but we must see that the industrialization of continuing education will eventually become an inevitable trend, which has very successful precedents in foreign countries and even in China and Hongkong.
(3) Continuing education should not be limited to academic education in the general sense, but should pay more attention to non-academic education that can supplement new things, expand knowledge and improve innovation ability, that is, continuing education in the practical sense. We must change the situation that traditional academic education is overemphasized and non-academic continuing education is neglected under the original education system, and take the development of non-academic continuing education as an urgent task of talent team construction to meet the urgent needs of the challenge of knowledge economy. At present, the industrialization process of continuing education in colleges and universities in China is largely biased towards adult education. We should pay attention to the phenomenon that some colleges and universities ignore continuing education because adult education can produce huge economic benefits immediately. However, as the main force in the development of continuing education, colleges and universities can not only seek immediate interests, but also excessively cater to the abnormal needs of society that attach importance to diplomas and ignore abilities. Adult academic education is only a form of continuing education and occupies a certain position, but it is by no means the whole of continuing education. Therefore, we should take the initiative to attack while completing academic education, set the main battlefield of continuing education in the front line of the national economy, and vigorously develop non-academic education.
(D) Quality, characteristics, innovation and practicality are the lifeline of the development of continuing education. Continuing education in comprehensive universities is the re-education of undergraduates, which is different from making up lessons in culture, but the dissemination of high-quality new technologies and new information. The objects they face are mainly on-the-job personnel. Educated people generally have a certain professional foundation, so what they need is not to receive the most systematic and perfect subject education, but to meet the needs of work. It is best to get their main contents quickly and master or understand new knowledge and information. Figuratively speaking, what they need is a kind of "self-help fast-food learning". In addition, the on-the-job staff are busy with work, have many family matters, have tight study time, are under great study pressure and have strong understanding. They are required to solve more practical problems and acquire more new knowledge and theories in a short time. Therefore, the total class hours should not be too long, and the proportion of hands-on or practice should be increased to improve students' ability to analyze and solve problems.