Future of nation's education and the opportunities it presents debated at CIFTIS

A combination of online and offline learning is expected to become a trend in education in the post-pandemic era, educators said at the ongoing China International Fair for Trade in Services, or CIFTIS, in Beijing.

They shared thoughts on how to innovate educational means and resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and embrace new opportunities arising from international educational services.

"China has launched national online educational platforms for students from primary school to colleges during the pandemic," said Liu Limin, president of the China Education Association for International Exchange. He was speaking at an education forum during CIFTIS.

More than 30,000 video classes, including more than 1,290 listed among the country's high-quality curriculum, are available on the learning portal for college students, he added.

Such online services have satisfied the demand from more than 200 million students studying at home."It is a wonder in the global education industry," he said.

Wang Hongjun, deputy principal of Beijing No 35 High School, told Xinhua at CIFTIS: "The pandemic has spurred changes in educational models, encouraged the development and use of online educational resources.

"It has also promoted a change in educational concepts. Teachers are increasingly shifting their role from being a lecturer who passes on knowledge to being a guide on their students' learning path, who inspires them to explore the world."

China's leading online education startup, Zuoyebang, is looking to use leading technologies, including artificial intelligence, to promote new infrastructure construction in the education sector, said its top executive at CIFTIS.

"Zuoyebang is looking to leverage technology to lead innovation in the education sector. The company hopes to help promote new infrastructure construction in the education field so as to drive the industry to be more digital, intelligent and individual," said Su Jing, its executive president.

At the forum, the Beijing-based company launched a high-tech product that can intelligently print questions, mark up wrong answers, as well as correct problem-solving steps. The Paperang P3 series enables students to take a picture of their mistakes and generate a flaw sweeper or question their notebook.

The Beijing-based startup has gained sound momentum during the summer vacation. By Aug 31, the total number of paid users was 7.8 million, a year-on-year increase of more than 390 percent, Su noted.

In addition to online education, international programs are a major attraction at the fair.

At the exhibition stand of the China Education Association for International Exchange, a staff member of the group, Liu Qian, introduced overseas youth exchange programs to visitors.

"We are in contact with schools in some 40 foreign countries and most of our overseas exchange programs are underway," he said. "We are continuing our regular exchange programs as scheduled for teenagers aged 15 to 17."

The Center for Language Education and Cooperation under China's Ministry of Education has launched four international online platforms for learning Chinese.

Besides the launch on Saturday,"Chinese Plus" cloud services, a "Chinese Bridge" app and two other platforms were on the agenda of the International Forum on Trade in Education Service at the CIFTIS 2020, which opened on Friday.

Presently, more than 4,000 universities, over 30,000 primary and secondary schools as well as over 45,000 colleges of Chinese studies in more than 70 countries around the world have offered Chinese courses, according to Liu Jin, director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges with MOE.

A total of 200 million people outside China have learned and used Chinese, according to Liu.

"Online platforms can help the development of Chinese education internationally amid the pandemic," said Zhao Guocheng, deputy head of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation.

A total of 18,000 enterprises and institutions from 148 countries and regions and about 100,000 people have registered for this year's CIFTIS.