reportofthestrengtheningdistanceeducation.docVIP

Report of the Strengthening Distance Education in Agriculture and Rural Development in China BY CABTS In January 2002, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, implementation of its Technical Cooperation Program project of “strengthening distance in agriculture and rural development in China” (TCP/CPR/0172(T)) was officially launched. The planned duration of the project was 2 years. However, due to the impact of SARS, project completion was hence postponed to the end of 2004. Through project implementation, it is to formulate the Strategic Plan for the development of digitalized education in agriculture and rural development of CABTS. Under the project, training was delivered to the staff of the CABTS system ranging from senior management officials, managers, administrators, designers of instructional materials, production technicians as well as instructional staff; meanwhile, a number of multimedia courseware have been developed; an on-line learning platform of CABTS has been built, which will facilitate the improvement of the institutional capacity of CABTS, incorporation of digital instructional methods into distance education aimed at rural population, and meeting the needs of farmers and other rural targeted groups for education. During project implementation, CABTS has enjoyed great support and assistance of FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, FAO Beijing Office, the Department of International Cooperation of MOA and the Center of International Cooperation Service of MOA. With untiring efforts of all partied concerned, the project has achieved great success and accumulated valuable experiences, which has laid solid foundation for sustainable development of CABTS. Background of the project Since its founding 20 years ago, CABTS has been mainly relying on radio, TV and other traditional distance education means to deliver training to farmers, hence has made great contribution to the improvement of C