More than 2.3 million senior citizens are taking classes at special schools or universities, said sources from the 22nd Congress of International Association of Universities of the Third Age that opened in east China's Shanghai Municipality on Wednesday.

There are some 26,000 schools or universities for senior citizens in China, said Liu Pingsheng, secretary-general of the China Association of the Universities for the Aged.

Out of every 100 Chinese old people, two are enrolled in such schools. In Shanghai, the city with the oldest average population in China, the rate is as high as about 10 percent, Liu noted.

Special school education for senior citizens in the country began in the 1980s, retired civil servants and few others studied calligraphy, painting and gymnastics. "But now, after nearly two decades of development, China boasts an education system for the aged with varied age structures, knowledge levels and social stratification," said Liu.

A spot check shows that compared with the 1980s, the percentages of people at and over 70 people and of those below 55 in the schools have been on rise.

The percentage of those with junior college backgrounds has risen from 23 in the 1980s to 34, and the rate of the retired has increased from less than 40 percent to 85.3 percent.

The variety of education available for these special students has increased. It now includes not only lectures such as calligraphy and painting but also skill education such as foreign languages, computer use and sewing.

"Radio, TV, correspondence education and Internet education are all schools for China's aged people, where what they learn covers nearly every aspect of their daily life, from treatment of psychological problems to protection of their legal rights," said Liu, adding that those old people without much formal education acquaint themselves with the world by learning through reading or attending meetings and lectures.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, China officially became an "aging society" at the end of the last century. Whether old people can enjoy their later years has become a social focus of the country.

"Education for the aged will help more elderly break away from the psychological morass of loneliness and depression and to live happier lives," said Zheng Lingde, president of the Shanghai university for the aged.

"China's education for the aged will develop towards standardization and become a system in the future with more scientific characteristics," Liu said.

The Shanghai municipal government is reportedly taking measures to include the education of senior citizens in a project of continuing education and life education. By 2005, 14 percent of old people in this city will take classes in schools for the aged. The percentage will rise to 22 in 2015.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2004)