What to do after retirement? In addition to bringing grandchildren to play mahjong jumping square dance, today more and more elderly people have more ways of learning and entertainment, enriching their spiritual and cultural life.August 28, Lu'an University of the Elderly opened, 20 majors, 189 classes, colleges, classes full. In order to meet the learning needs of the elderly, then added six classes, but did not meet the increasing enthusiasm of the elderly to learn.
1. Elderly college "hard to find"
Campus, learning is not the young people's "patent". These two days after the opening of the University of the Elderly in Lu'an, the old man's enthusiasm for learning is no less than that of the young "partners". But the quota is limited, the number of applicants is too large, some popular subjects "it is difficult to find a". "In order to be able to apply for my favorite computer class, the first day of school at 6:00 a.m. to go to the University of the elderly lined up to register, but late. Really didn't get the paper as nervous as my grandson lining up for elementary school." Said. This year's 63-year-old Aunt Liu into the University of the Elderly two years, last year, because there is no application, did not get on the profession you want to learn, so this year, lined up early to enroll.
Shortly after the enrollment brief was published, the school's consulting phone kept ringing, and many elderly people even came to the school specifically to learn more about the situation. Recently, the annual enrollment of the Lu'an Senior University has increased at a rate of 15 percent, and it is expected that this year's enrollment will exceed 4,000 people. "In order to facilitate the registration of the elderly, this year the University for the Elderly has especially opened online registration," said Zhu Zhuyu, director of the Academic Affairs Office of the Lu'an University for the Elderly." As of 3 p.m. on August 29, more than 1,000 people had registered online, but on the first day of on-site registration on August 28, more than 1,000 seniors were still lining up at the school to register." Each year, seniors continue to come to the school after the start of the school year, hoping to 'make up' or supplement their registration."
The hottest majors chosen by seniors are reported to be tai chi (sword), song, dance, health care, cooking, photography, Chinese painting, calligraphy and computers. "As easy to learn as singing and dancing are, they are very popular among the elderly, and hundreds of people are now forecasting their names." A teacher in charge of registration at the city's University for the Elderly told reporters that the school has recruited 90 teachers to maximize the demand of the elderly, but it is still understaffed.
2. Enrollment in the hottest majors reaches 3: 1
Despite the difficulty of enrolling in the University for the Elderly, it has failed to stop the elderly's enthusiasm for learning. Many popular majors have an enrollment rate of 3:1, with the most popular being e-commerce and smartphones (computer science majors).
3. Why do they like "senior university" so much?
Aunt Xu, a "senior" student at the city's senior university, has her own ideas. Auntie Xu is 69 years old and was an accountant at a hospital in the city center before she retired. After retirement, Xu's identity has become a "full-time nanny", every day in addition to bringing a small grandson, but also fiddling with flowers. When her grandson started kindergarten, Auntie Xu's time suddenly became free. Through the introduction of a friend, she applied for the City University of the Elderly, I did not expect this study almost 8 years. Eight years, Auntie Xu learned tai chi, softball, aerobics, calligraphy, amateur leisure and cultural life can be described as colorful and magnificent. Elderly University has a special place and specialized faculty, can be taught face-to-face, where you can not only make new friends, but also for the elderly to recharge their spiritual life.
These advantages are incomparable to those of community and street activity centers for the elderly and TV lectures. "Nowadays, with the improvement of living conditions, the concepts of the elderly are gradually changing. For example, taking advantage of their health to fulfill the dreams they didn't realize when they were young." Auntie Zhang said. In Auntie Zhang's class, many students enroll in several subjects in one go. Some students have dreamed of becoming dancers since they were young, while others want to become photographers. (William Shakespeare, Hamlet) But for various reasons, most of these dreams were put on hold. In the University of the Elderly, they find like-minded "old friends" and the opportunity to make up for life's regrets.
4. Why is the university so popular?
"There are too few universities in the city that are so old." Retired worker Chen Shulong father complained. Can you run a few more senior universities in the future? Many old people have expressed that wish.
According to statistics, by the end of 2016, the city's 1,515 universities (schools) for the elderly at all levels, more than 120,000 students, accounting for 12.7% of the elderly population aged 60 years or older, increased to 1.42%; 7 senior citizen universities in the city and counties and districts, with 7,174 students. In addition, a number of schools for the elderly opened in communities and villages are also increasing every year.
On the other hand, senior universities have the advantage of having a lower entry barrier than other senior schools, popular programs and low learning costs. On the contrary, the city currently has only one senior university, Jin'an District and Liu'an District Senior University, is still under construction and is not large. Elderly people in the choice of senior university is, tend to choose hardware and software facilities better school, so it is easy to "burst"
It is undeniable that, in the context of aging, the elderly education resources are increasingly insufficient. On the one hand, the elderly desire to go to school is strong, on the other hand, the capacity of the senior university is limited. In recent years, the university enrollment continues to prevail, the number of classes continues to increase, "expansion" capacity is limited, is the most realistic problem in front of the university of the elderly.
"The demand for senior enrollment continues to grow at a rate of 15 percent per year. We can think of ways to increase by half, but the existing education field can no longer meet the real demand, so the urgent need to expand." Zhou Zhaoyu told reporters that the city council and city government have been interested in supporting the construction of the senior university. The site for the new campus is included in the city's 13th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development. Hopefully, more seniors will soon be able to enter the new senior university, and hopefully they will be able to learn, be happy, and better fulfill the old one.
In fact, the development status of the Lu'an Senior University is currently epitomized by the development status of many senior universities. Compared with the fast-growing number of students, the faculty of the senior university can not meet the demand. Compared with the knowledge needs of the huge society of the elderly, the hardware facilities and premises construction also needs to be improved.