Opportunities exist, but the elderly need more options for study
More opportunities are needed for people to study during retirement
Last month, Chris Uphill, 65, retired from the ESF Educational Services, an organisation he joined after teaching at ESF Glenealy Primary School. As he returns home to Britain after 25 years in Hong Kong, he is looking forward to pursuing a master of education at the Open University.
"Although I am retiring, I retain my professional interests, and still want to pursue these. Retirement provides the two essential prerequisites for study - financial independence and time. I'm not ready for the armchair and the pipe," Uphill says.
The elderly have the right to keep learning throughout their life
He epitomises a rising number of retirees who are seeking continuous fulfilment in life. But he is one of the fortunate ones who can consider engaging in formal education after retirement.
Although lifelong learning includes formal, non-formal and informal learning, the scope available to the elderly is narrow, and mostly restricted to informal leisure courses.
These are offered by the Elder Academies that were established in each of Hong Kong's 19 geographical constituencies by the government in 2007, through its Elderly Commission in response to rising trends and increasing demand for learning opportunities among the elderly.
The government's involvement is restricted to making seed funding available to private and public providers, to establish academies, which run on a self-financing basis and are free to design their own curricula.