Forty older students, a part of who are Ukrainian refugees, were enrolled in the pilot project University of the Third Age. The initiative is a form of education adjusted for older women and men whose mission is to promote the concept of lifelong learning, IPN reports.
The project was launched in connection with the International Day of Older Persons by the United Nations Population Fund, in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Moldova State University.
Moldova State University rector Igor Șarov said that the viability of such projects us appreciable. Over 180 persons applied for the 40 places available at the University of the Third Age and this shows an increased interest in such initiatives. Besides information sharing, socialization is also an important element of this project.
The courses will be piloted during October 2023 - April 2024. Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu said the authorities are considering the possibility of extending the project. “This initiative will develop new skills, will show to the whole society that the older persons in the Republic of Moldova want to become active, are active and can be active. The possibility of socializing, of establishing new relations, of making new finds is a very important thing that we should not ignore,” stated the minister.
Nigina Abaszada, UNFPA Moldova Resident Representative, said the older persons now represent almost 24% and forecasts show that this indicator in the future will rise to 30%. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, UNFPA has laid emphasis on older persons. There were staged a number of programs, local training courses involving older persons. These efforts are extended also through the University of the Third Age program.
The International Day of Older Persons is celebrated on October 1. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, there were 598,300 persons aged 60 years and over in Moldova at the beginning of this year. The population aging coefficient was 23.8%, which means the population aging rate is high. Compared with the start of 2019, this was by 3 percentage points higher.
