Forge Ahead in Pursuit of First-class Education

Statement of Purpose and Mission

Shantou Radio and TV University（SRTVU）was founded in 1983 when Shantou Special Economic Zone was in its infancy. The University merged with Shantou Spare-time University（SSU）in 1995 and Shantou Workers’ Spare-time University（SWSU）in 1998 in order to meet the local society’s increasing demands for professional personnel and to adapt itself to China’s ongoing education reform. The present University, a conglomeration of three local adult universities, run by the same management, benefits from its large scale, diversity of programmes offered, and well-reputed school spirit. Due to its excellent education quality and strict management, the University has been awarded the honorary titles of Model Radio and TV University of GuangdongProvince, Advanced Adult University of Guangdong Provinceand Trustworthy Examination Center of China’s Radio and Television Universities.

The University has always upheld the socialist education system and given full play to open and distance mode of learning and the modernization of instruction. Well-known for its strict management with a focus on providing better service and enhancing teaching quality, the University is actively involved in reforming the educational model and building a lifelong learning system. Meanwhile, it is also dedicated to creating an environment conducive to staff development. Development is its eternal theme, quality is its life and reform is its driving force, with the mission to make its education network beneficial to its catchment area. So far, the University has offered courses in over 30 specialties. Its courses in financing and economy have always had a considerable market share, its courses in the English language have always been highly rated, and its courses in Arts and in Science are well developed. The university has made outstanding achievements in implementing quality-oriented education in accordance with the requirements and standards set by the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third National Education Conference.

The University has a full-time staff of 168, 100 of whom are academics. 68% of the academics have intermediate or senior professional titles. In addition, it has a part-time teaching staff of over 80. In recent years, the University has attached much more importance to its staff development. It has formulated its plan to develop a qualified full-time and part-time staff with good professionalism and expertise so as to promote the implementation of the open and distance learning pilot project.

The University has an enrollment of 5,416 students, with 4,496 enrolling in SRTVU courses, and 378 in SSU and SWSU courses, and 585 in specialized secondary education courses. In addition, the University also runs in-service training courses and continuing education courses. Last year, there were 5,000 people who attended these courses. Since the University was set up more than twenty years ago, there have been a large number of students of various specialties graduating from the University, making a significant contribution to the local social advancement.

With regard to the modernization of teaching facilities, the University has set up its Experiment and ResourcesCenter and ModernEducationalTechnologyCenter. And there are three systems in operation—information transmission, teaching broadcasting, and library management and office automation. Meanwhile, the University has signed agreements with Shantou Law Society, Shantuo International Hotel and Shantou Daily to have them as students’ fieldwork bases, thus optimizing its teaching facilities and infrastructure.

To promote research, the University regularly holds Open and Distance Learning Workshops, carry out research projects on education reform and encourage its staff to participate in academic activities and professional training. The University’s research has paid off and is well received in academic exchanges both at home and abroad, resulting in the publication of four collections of research papers by the staff.

To promote local social and economic development, the University offered free vocational training to laid-off workers and to servicemen stationed in Shantou, an endeavor that has helped build a fine image of the University, which has been awarded accordingly in relation to its collaboration with the Army in promoting social progress.

Facing the opportunities and challenges brought by the 21st century’s education reform, the leadership and staff will continue to dedicate themselves to building the University into a first-class school to play a bigger role in the modernization drive of the local society.