Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) on Thursday promised to begin a trial run next year of a university program for people in their “third chapter of life” to encourage middle-aged and older people to return to school.
Planning for the trial is expected to be completed by the end of this year and would be made public next year, Cheng said.
Cheng was responding to Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) during a legislative session.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The median age in Taiwan was 19.3 years in the 1970s, but it is estimated that it would reach 52.4 by the 2040s, Wu said.
However, most universities only accept 18-year-old students, which means that the strategic planning for university admissions has not changed since the 1970s, he said.
The “strong generation” — referring to those aged 45, 55 or 60 and above, according to different definitions — controls as much as two-thirds of Taiwan’s wealth, but most of them regret not going to college, Wu added.
The education ministry should make use of the rich resources of universities, through different methods, to encourage the strong generation to return to school, the lawmaker said.
“Instead of nursing homes, let retired people enter universities,” he added.
Wu collected opinions from all sectors of society through public hearings and compiled information about special classes for bachelor degree programs and multi-specialty degree programs, he said.
Many schools have expressed willingness to promote them, he added
The Ministry of Education told Wu that, in the short term, it would entrust a professional team to develop core curriculum modules.
In the medium term, it would identify some schools to pilot a “third chapter of life university” program, while in the longer term, it plans to allow those schools to offer degrees, the ministry said.
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