HZU's First Sino-Foreign Cooperative School-Running Project Approved

2021-11-16

Recently, the Ministry of Education issued a notice approving the Sino-Foreign cooperative 

school-running project for the first half of 2021, including the early childhood education 

undergraduate education project jointly held by HZU and the University of North Alabama 

(UNA) in the United States. This project marks a zero breakthrough for the Sino-foreign 

cooperative school-running project of HZU.

Holding Sino-Foreign cooperative education programs is an important measure in adhering 

to the socialist direction of running schools, deepening exchanges and mutual learning, 

and promoting win-win cooperation with high-quality education resources around the world. 

The Sino-Foreign cooperative education program aims to cultivate exceptional preschool 

educators with noble ethics, international vision, and world vision using HZU and UNA's rich 

experience in talent training in the field of preschool education, well-structured teaching staff, 

and international teaching concepts. HZU aims to further deepen exchanges and cooperation 

with UNA, promote the integration of China and foreign educational philosophies, and 

facilitate international development of preschool education majors in both schools in terms 

of discipline construction and talent training, while fully developing the unique features of 

the program.

The four-year program is included in the National Enrollment plan for regular higher education 

and will be enrolling students from 2022. Students who enroll are required to take the national 

unified entrance examination for regular higher education and adhere to relevant enrollment 

regulations and requirements. The program utilizes the 4+0 Chinese and foreign dual-degree 

training system, where students can choose to take all the courses prescribed by the program 

at HZU. Alternatively, they can opt for inter-school exchange in US universities for 1-2 years to 

complete relevant courses in the major. Students who pass the required examinations will be 

awarded the bachelor's degree certificate, bachelor's degree certificate and the Bachelor's 

Degree certificate of Education from UNA, as well as the respective degree certificates 

from HZU.

UNA, which was founded in 1830, has a history of nearly 200 years and is the oldest university 

in Alabama and the United States. The UNA was formerly the first teachers' college in the 

southern United States but has since evolved into a comprehensive University recognized by 

the international academic community and the Ministry of Education of China. In 2021, 

according to the US News and World Report, the University of North Alabama is ranked 13th 

among public universities in South America. All Teacher Education programs offered by the 

College of Education at the UNA are accredited by The National Council for Accreditation of 

Teacher Education (accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the US 

Department of Education).

This time, the Ministry of Education approved a total of 24 undergraduate and above 

Sino-Foreign cooperative school-running projects, of which three universities in Guangdong 

Province were approved. The approval of this project is a significant achievement for HZU's 

long-term adherence to the philosophy of open education. This milestone is expected to 

promote international education, introduce foreign high-quality educational resources and 

educational philosophies, improve the level of education, and ultimately promote HZU's 

construction into a high-level applied university. Additionally, this program will help the 

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) develop into an international 

education demonstration area, cultivate high-quality preschool education professionals that 

possess a global vision, international vision, and strong family-country feelings, and 

provide strong support for the GBA.