Dedicated to promoting the scale of "Sunset Red" | Elderly University | Sunset

In early summer, the ancient city of Xiangyang. The Sunshine Art School across the street from Binhu Community in Tanxi Street has welcomed a group of elderly students. Calligraphy classes, Tai Chi classes, smartphone classes... The newly opened courses for the elderly are rich and colorful. This school, originally designed to train children's artistic skills, stands out with a brand new "Binhu Community Senior School" plaque under a tall gate tower.

"Although our Binhu community only covers an area of 1.1 square kilometers, it is small in size and has a large population of over 21000 residents. At one point, there was a supply-demand contradiction for elderly people to attend schools in our jurisdiction." Community Party Secretary Zhuo Yaqiong told reporters, "Under the guidance of the Xiangcheng District Committee's Elderly Cadres Bureau, we have opened up educational ideas, actively guided market entities to participate, and jointly operated with the Sunshine Art School, which is only a long way away. We have 'staggered' use of teaching venues, achieving seamless connection between elderly education and children's interest training. The first batch of 556 elderly residents have their own 'Sunshine Schools'."

The successful experience of the Binhu Community Elderly University taking the stairs is just a microcosm of Xiangyang, Hubei Province, which attaches great importance to the needs of elderly education and accelerates the construction of a network system for elderly university education. On December 30, 2022, the Elderly Cadres Bureau of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and the Hubei Provincial Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the three-year action plan for the special fund subsidy project for learning and activity venues for elderly people in townships and urban and rural communities in Hubei Province, focusing on solving the supply-demand contradiction of learning and activity venues for elderly people at the grassroots level. Upon hearing the order, various measures in the ancient city of Xiangyang were swift and practical.

Zaoyang City, under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang, originally had a senior university located in the southern part of the urban area, with a building area of only over 1000 square meters and a school scale of only over 400 people. Many elderly people have reported that the campus has a small area, a remote location, limited courses, and is not very convenient for going to school. Therefore, Zaoyang City will replace a government office courtyard located in the center of the city. This 7-story building, with a construction area of over 3000 square meters, has now become the main campus of Zaoyang Elderly University, with a school scale of over 1100 people. Not only that, Zaoyang City has also planned a new campus in the eastern part of the urban area, and construction has now begun. "This scale of 'one school, three districts' will completely solve the problem of' difficult to find one university 'for the elderly, and facilitate the elderly to choose schools nearby for enrollment," said Kang Dan, member of the Standing Committee of the Zaoyang Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the Organization Department.

With the full support of the "red sunset", Xiangyang has extended its educational facilities to the grassroots front line, allowing the elderly to truly achieve the goal of "leaving home and entering school". There is a kindergarten and a primary school near Nanzhang County Elderly University. After sending their grandchildren to school, elderly students come to their own university; The railway community in Fancheng District has secured special funds to renovate an abandoned factory in its jurisdiction and build a railway community senior school. The school also hosts intangible cultural heritage exhibitions; The South to North Water Diversion Migration New Village in Shiqiao Town, Xiangzhou District has three natural villages under its jurisdiction, with over 1000 elderly people aged 60 and above. The Xiangzhou District Committee's Elderly Cadre Bureau has allocated special funds to build a unique village run "United Elderly School".

"Xiangyang Elderly University had over 2000 students in 2011 and increased to over 14700 in 2023, a 7-fold increase in number. The number of students ranks among the top in Hubei Province's Elderly University." Liu Jun, Deputy Director of the Xiangyang Municipal Party Committee's Elderly Cadre Bureau, told reporters that as of now, the city has established 108 township elderly schools, 268 community elderly teaching points, and the coverage rate of township elderly education has reached 96.4%. The number of students in various levels of elderly schools in the city has reached 57000.

Hardware facilities have been greatly improved, and software support also needs to be synchronized and followed up. In recent years, Xiangyang City has vigorously promoted the construction of a "smart campus" system for elderly universities. There is a complete video surveillance system on the campus, and a dedicated mobile client has been developed. The enrollment, course selection, class management, discussion and exchange of elderly students can be achieved through an "online one card". Most senior universities have opened online live streaming classrooms, and during the epidemic, they have achieved "no suspension of classes and live streaming from home". To ensure the personal safety of elderly students, Xiangyang City allocates special financial funds every year to purchase campus public safety liability insurance for all elderly students. The Zhenwushan Community Elderly School in Xiangcheng District has specially opened up a happy cafeteria, rehabilitation training area, and temporary rest room for elderly students. Elderly students can dine, exercise, and even take a nap here.

"Elderly people have their voices heard, and Xiangyang Elderly University must respond accordingly. In recent years, we have followed the pace of the times by offering drone photography classes, VR classes, and microfilm classes. Based on the actual needs of elderly students, we have also offered senior finance classes and home pet training and care classes, which are all popular." Wang Lin, the full-time vice president of Xiangyang Elderly University, told reporters that now Xiangyang Elderly University has 8 departments, 141 disciplines, 410 teaching classes, and more than 180 full-time teachers.

Mo Dao Sangyu is late, and the clouds still fill the sky. In recent years, Xiangyang City has organized students from senior universities to participate in more than 420 cultural and public welfare performances in the city, with an audience of 400000 people.