Shanghai opens learning facility for city workers

A new center was launched in Shanghai to integrate local universities with the sole purpose of promoting lifelong education for city workers.

The Shanghai University Lifelong Education Service Guide Center is based at Shanghai Polytechnic University, which was founded in 1960 to cultivate talent for local industries and is well-known for providing opportunities for continuous education for local workers.

According to educational authorities, only 15 percent of Shanghai's 10 million industrial workers, including deliverymen, are college graduates, despite the fact that many of them are eager to continue their studies to improve their capabilities.

Shanghai has 64 colleges and universities, as well as 12 special colleges for working adults and 548 vocational training organizations.

In 2021, special colleges had 136,300 students, while 146,000 workers were taking online classes from colleges. About 848,900 people received vocational training in the city.

According to Ni Minjing, deputy director of the Shanghai Education Commission, the new center will carry out studies and develop standards to turn workers' work experience into academic credits and provide more educational programs to them.

He said that by 2025, the city will develop a formal program for workers to improve their professional skills while pursuing higher education diplomas.

The new center is also a part of the city's most recent efforts to become a more learning-oriented city.

At the fifth International Conference on Learning Cities in Yeonsu, South Korea, Shanghai was one of 10 cities to be honored with the UNESCO Learning Cities Award 2021 for outstanding achievements in the implementation of the learning city strategy.

The UNESCO Learning City Award was created to promote lifelong learning for all and highlight best practices in building learning cities. It is given to cities that have made outstanding progress in this area.

Shanghai won the title for the first time for successfully implementing public health education, elderly education, adult vocational education and training, education for sustainable development, and reading for all.