At the Cabinet meeting today, Premier Chang San-cheng commended the Ministry of Education (MOE) for establishing the Learning Resources Centers for the Elderly, which have contributed immensely to enhancing senior citizens' physical and mental health and enriching their twilight years.
The premier made these remarks after the MOE's briefing on its accomplishments and prospects in promoting lifelong learning for senior citizens.
In response to Taiwan soon becoming an aged to super-aged society, the ministry began in 2008 to set up Learning Resources Centers for the Elderly and to hold university courses for senior citizens to encourage lifelong learning. The MOE hopes to help people aged 55 and above adjust to aging and enrich their lives, while instituting a locality-based learning system for senior citizens and developing elderly human resources.
The number of Learning Resources Centers has been increasing every year, and the number of participants at the centers' diverse learning channels had quadrupled from 470,000 in 2008 to more than 1.88 million in 2015.
In terms of cultivating elderly human resources, the MOE helped form 1,528 self-learning groups from highly qualified retirees and incorporated 10,032 elderly volunteers, thus saving the government some NT$100 million (US$3.04 million) per year in lecture fees and other related expenses.