Ministry of Education Promotes Education for The Elderly

The China Post

February 8, 2008

Taiwan

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has doubled its budget for the promotion of elderly education to NT$46.54 million for 2008 as Taiwan's senior population continues to increase, ministry officials said Wednesday. 

The amount compares with the NT$25.75 million earmarked for 2006 and NT$22.25 million for 2007, the officials said. 

The program targeting seniors is in line with a white paper released by the ministry in 2006 to outline the government's education policy addressing a gradually greying society. Unveiled in the document are four major visions that the government aims to achieve: enhancing life-long learning, health and happiness, independence and self-esteem, and social participation among senior citizens. 

In addition to working out a five-year plan to implement the policy, the ministry has also set up a task force consisting of government, academic and civic representatives to assist with the policy's implementation, the officials said. 
To increase the country's citizens' understanding of the difficulties faced by seniors and the positive value of the group, the ministry is planning to add elements aimed at fostering knowledge about aging to the compulsory education curriculum, they said. 

In a bid to promote the utility of senior human resources, the ministry is encouraging its affiliated agencies to recruit retired personnel and senior volunteers to help promote education programs for the elderly, they said, adding that such a method will help inspire their peers to take part in community service and interact more with society. 

Meanwhile, the ministry will set up "elderly education guidance centers" in northern, central, southern and eastern regions, which will be tasked with developing teaching materials, training tutors, and supervising and guiding the implementation of elderly education. 

Also, the ministry has proposed that a special unit be set up under the education bureau of each local government to take charge of promoting elderly education and that "grey-haired learning centers" and "life-long learning centers" be established in local communities, MOE officials said. 

According to Interior Ministry tallies, the number of Taiwan people aged 65 and above amounted to 2,337,932 as of November 2007, accounting for 10.19 percent of the country's total population. 

In 10 counties and cities, the ratios of senior citizens were higher than the average, accounting for 12-15 percent of the localities' population. They included Yilan County, Miaoli County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Tainan County, Taitung County, Hualien County, Penghu County and Kinmen County. 

It has been forecast that 10 years from now, the number of people aged 65 and above in Taiwan will have reached 3.02 million, accounting for 13 percent of the country's total population and outnumbering people aged below 14 who are expected to account for only 12.72 percent of the population by then.

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