Beijing, March 7. China recently inaugurated the Seniors University of China (SUC), a university exclusively for people over 50 whose aim is to “promote lifelong learning” for the Chinese people, who face to rapid ageing, according to the official press today.
The inauguration, which took place last weekend, was attended by Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng, who assured that the country “will advance in building a learning society and provide older people the opportunity to develop their own initiatives and studies,” reports the Xinhua News Agency.
By the year 2035, there will be more than 400 million people over the age of 60 in this Asian country, which represents more than 30% of the Chinese population.
The authorities have warned that the aging of the population poses many challenges for the provision of public services and the sustainability of social security.
Under the leadership of the SUC, which will offer face-to-face and online courses for the whole country starting this spring, an educational platform for the elderly has been set up with 407,000 courses, with a total of 3.9 million minutes of didactic content, specifies the agency.
“China requires universities and training centers to provide specialized courses for seniors,” the minister said, adding that the country “encourages primary and secondary schools to support these projects by giving up their sports equipment and cultural”.
China recorded a decrease of 850,000 in 2022 in its population, which closed 2022 with 1,411.75 million, compared to 1,412.6 million at the end of 2021.
International experts have predicted that neighboring India, with a population of around 1.38 billion today, will overtake China in the near future to become the most populous country on the planet. EFE
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