China has launched an ambitious six-year, 2024-2030, program to reshape its training provision
Education and training are viewed as preliminary, foundational and strategic in the Chinese meteorological community, just as they are core elements of the capacity development framework that cuts across WMO priorities. At a time of momentous changes in the meteorological world, with both positive and negative impacts for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), the importance of having the right people - well-trained staff - to reap the benefits and survive the challenges cannot be understated. Meteorological training providers must respond to the changed and changing environment with smart facilities and unconventional formations. This is the backdrop in which China has launched an ambitious six-year, 2024-2030, program to reshape its training provision in the meteorological field in a 1+2+6 Formation:
- the one (1), the spearheading China Meteorological Administration (CMA) Training Centre (CMATC) based in the capital, Beijing
- the two (2), the CMA regional training centres (CMARTCs) based in Hunan (central China) and Xinjiang (western China)
- the six (6), the CMA sub-regional training centres (CMASTCs) based in Hebei (northern China), Liaoning (northeastern China), Zhejiang (eastern China), Guangdong (southern China), Sichuan (southwestern China) and Shaanxi (northwestern China).
These designated principal meteorological training providers will have training resource support from, among others, the WMO Regional Training Centres (RTCs) based in Nanjing, Beijing and Yangzhou. This streamlined open 1+2+6 Formation will be accessible, specialized, complimentary and differentiated in delivering quality training to develop skills, competence and performance in a timely, systematic, pertinent and effective manner.
China's meteorological training master plan is trainee-, demand- and problem-oriented, addressing general guidelines and objectives as well as the operation of state-of-the-art facilities, smart campuses, intensive platforms and teaching resources. It identifies five stages for transformative training: pre-training, initial training, on-going training, ending training and post-training. It considers the need to enhance both soft and hard skills, for integrated and intelligent management, for tailored contents and personalized lesson plans, and for a combination of face-to-face and online training channels. It uses a variety of teaching methods - immersive, experiential, inquiry-based, interactive and research-and-development (R&D) oriented - and the weighted assessment and evaluation.
CMATC, the 1, is to act as the flagship while the CMARTCs, the 2, and the CMASTCs, the 6, will offer an array of training matrices in in-person and virtual formats at national and international levels. The teachers and trainers will be complimentary in terms of their skill development and shared in an integrated pool of full-time and part-time professional resources. This consolidated institutional approach enables a better focus on the implementation of competencies in line with the WMO Quality Policy Statement and China's national requirements through a single framework governing courses, trainees, evaluation and supervision.
Cutting-edge immersive/situational education will be offered using display platforms, intelligent and interactive systems, and high-resolution simulated mock-ups of realistic scenarios for drills on core knowledge and skills. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and other modern techniques will enhance the realism and immersion of the simulated scenarios. The category-based contextual support platforms - with their electronics, microwave, virtual simulation and software engineering - will provide experiential knowledge-in-practice learning that will refine perceptions and comprehension and permit verification of the skills that have been acquired. This problem-driven inquiry-based approach will use guided questioning for active learning and in-depth thinking. The interactive platform is being designed for capacity building in meteorological services for, inter alia, disaster risk reduction, climate application, especially early warning systems for effective climate action, satellite remote-sensing, weather modification and for specific sectors, including agriculture, transportation, energy, oceanography, forestry/grassland, ecology/environment, finance, tourism, health, aviation and water.
The R&D-oriented platform, which is to be deployed in an intensive and complementary fashion, will focus on any new training demands, emerging or arising from the new generation information technology (IT) such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. Independent learning and collaborative research are the emphasis of the platform's four-phased approach, which:
- Creates a situation that simulates the research initiative
- Opens the classroom for independent exploration and ideas
- Stimulates study and problem-solving with teacher offering guidance and advice
- Encourages brainstorming among trainees.
The operation of this efficient, stable, intensive, safe, easy-to-use and scalable meteorological education and training portal will be monitored for accuracy, statistically analysed and scientifically managed. With regulatory, human and financial resources put in place, China is gearing up to implement the 1+2+6 Formation. When fully deployed, it will be able to contribute more to the WMO capacity development framework. The shakeup in the meteorological training provision in China will empower the meteorological staff at home and abroad.
