PART Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture
Chapter 7 Promotion of "Social Education"
4 Provision of Diverse Learning Opportunities
(3) Learning Activities of the Aged
With a view to enabling senior citizens to continue to live
a worthwhile life, efforts have been made to provide them with a larger number
of attractive places for learning and for social activities. In recent years,
local boards of education and other organizations are conducting an increased
number of classes and lecture courses for the aged to give them an opportunity
for systematic learning. The Ministry has been granting subsidies to prefectural
governments for the expenses of organizing "senior citizens' colleges" with the
cooperation of local universities and other institutions. These colleges offer
advanced educational programs in a wide range of fields to cope with the diversified
and sophisticated demands of the aged. In order to help the aged enrich their
lives as a whole and to take effective steps for this purpose in cooperation
with the organizations concerned, the Ministry also subsidizes municipal "comprehensive
programs for facilitating the worthwhile living of the aged" in which various
programs are undertaken. These programs include: the organization of a meeting
for promoting education for the aged; the setting-up of classes for the aged;
the organization of lecture courses for training volunteers; the utilization
of knowledge and experience of the aged; the exchange of information and experiences
between seniors and youth, and so forth.