HKIEd, PolyU join push for older learners
With the ranks of older people growing, the demands they place on public services are set to rise steeply. But there is one service - education - that the government is encouraging the elderly to take full advantage of.
In a bid to inspire them to pursue lifelong learning, the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Elderly Commission set up the Elder Academy in 2007. Seven tertiary institutions have joined the initiative so far.
Since last year, the Hong Kong Institute of Education has set aside four places each year in a range of undergraduate programmes for elderly learners to attend lectures alongside young students.
Fifty elderly students signed up for the programmes this academic year after more than 100 applied, according to Dr Maureen Tam Siu-ling, deputy director of the institute's Centre for Lifelong Learning Research and Development.
'Elderly learners pay just HK$200 per course,' Tam said. 'Young and old learners gain mutual benefits, with the young learning from the life experiences of the old and the elderly being able to keep abreast of the times.'
An estimated 25 per cent of the city's population will be aged 65 or above by 2050, and the demand for learning from older people is expected to grow along with their numbers.
To ensure there are enough tutors to meet the demand, the institute recently launched a professional certificate programme in lifelong and elderly education. The HK$3,800, six-month course teaches specific methodologies for teaching older people and addresses their learning psychology.
'Of the 33 students we took in, the youngest is 28 years old,' Tam said.
Another university that has tapped into the market for elderly learning is Polytechnic University, which set up the Institute of Active Ageing last year. Twelve departments and 23 disciplines are involved in the venture, and 50 students aged 50 and above have signed up for the first courses on nutrition and food safety.
The PolyU institute has set up a HK$16.4 million fund for research projects on the elderly and is planning to introduce the first degree programme on applied gerontology in 2012.
Institute director Jenny Chung Ching-ching said the active ageing programmes would cover a wide range of fields.
'It will explore measures to boost the welfare of the elderly,' Chung said. 'Students will study the needs of the elderly and how to advance their well-being at the policy level.'
The institute is also conducting research on the use of technology to improve the lives of older people.
