University of the Third Age

Abstrak Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat (PSH) bukanlah agenda baru negara mahupun sesebuah institusi. Ia sudah lama dilaksanakan sama ada dalam bentuk formal atau tidak formal. Di Malaysia, institusi pendidikan tinggi banyak menawarkan program PSH bagi tujuan peningkatan kemahiran dan pengetahuan serta taraf sosio-ekonomi masyarakat. Perlaksanaan program PSH ini sememangnya amat bermanfaat kepada setiap golongan masyarakat tanpa mengira usia. Di Kolej Komuniti Hulu Langat (KKHL), program PSH telah mendapat sambutan dari pelbagai golongan termasuk dari kalangan warga emas. Namun, tidak semua golongan ini mempunyai pendendahan tentang kursus serta faedah penyertaan kursus PSH di Kolej Komuniti. Justeru itu, kajian ini dilaksanakan bagi mengenalpasti faedah penyertaan program PSH yang telah diperolehi oleh warga emas dari kalangan peserta University of The Third Age (U3A). Kajian ini juga diharap menjadi batu loncatan bagi membantu meningkatkan peratus penglibatan golongan warga emas yang menghadiri program PSH berdasarkan manfaat dan faedah yang bakal diperolehi. Data latar belakang peserta dan kecenderungan pilihan program yang dipilih diperolehi daripada keseluruhan 498 peserta yang telah menyertai program PSH di Kolej Komuniti Hulu Langat sepanjang tahun 2014 dan 2015. Pengkaji juga menggunakan soalan terbuka bagi mendapatkan data bagi objektif kajian yang ke tiga iaitu mengenai faedah penyertaan program PSH di KKHL kepada 15 orang responden. Dalam soalan terbuka ini, responden bebas untuk menentukan jawapan dalam ruangan yang disediakan. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapat 6 faedah yang diperolehi oleh responden selepas menyertai program PSH di KKHL. Antara faedah yang dikenalpasti adalah dari segi hubungan sosial, peningkatan kemahiran, berdikari, kesihatan mental dan fizikal, keagamaan dan kerohanian serta ekonomi. Kata Kunci: warga emas, program PSH, PSH, faedah, manfaat 1. Pendahuluan Kolej Komuniti telah sinonim dengan Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat (PSH) sejak penubuhannya pada tahun 2001. Bagi merealisasikan pembudayaan pembelajaran sepanjang hayat, kolej komuniti telah menyediakan pelbagai kursus jangka pendek kepada pelbagai golongan masyarakat, jantina, agama dan pendidikan. Had usia penyertaan adalah dari 15 tahun dan ke atas. Ini bermakna, golongan warga emas juga boleh menyertai program PSH di kolej komuniti. Proses pembelajaran tidak berhenti selepas alam persekolahan dan pekerjaan, malah sehingga ke liang lahad. Maka tidak hairanlah penyertaan program PSH bagi golongan warga emas di KKHL pada setiap tahun amat mengalakkan. Menyedari peningkatan penyertaan golongan ini, KKHL telah berkolaborasi dengan 3 buah persatuan warga emas pada tahun

The organization of an international education activity has its specifics compared to a national one. It is very important to know the differences in the very organization as well as the opinions of the individual participants. We can find differences not only in the management of education but also in the leisure activities, the nourishment, and the accommodation. Based on experiences with the organization of international events and taking part in international projects in the field of educating older adults, we put together a questionnaire to investigate some important questions related to the organization of an international event. We distributed this questionnaire at two international educational activities. We compiled the questions and answer clearly, which is going to be an asset particularly for the professional community.

This volume-“Selected Contemporary Challenges of Aging Policy”-is the most international of all published monographs from the series “Czech-Polish-Slovak Studies in Andragogy and Social Gerontology.” Among the scholars trying to grasp the nuances and trends of social policy, there are diverse perspectives, resulting not only from the extensive knowledge of the authors on the systematic approach to the issue of supporting older people but also from the grounds of the represented social gerontology schools. In the texts of Volume VII interesting are both distinct and coherent elements presenting the role of local, regional and global policies in the prism of the countries from which the authors originate: the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Italy, Turkey, and the United States.
The chapters show a wealth of methodological approaches to the perception of social policy and its tools. In the texts there are issues related to the idea of active ageing, discrimination against older people in the workplace, comparability of solutions friendly to employment of older adults in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia as well as focused on the importance of educational forms (universities of the third age, senior clubs, folk high schools, and other non-formal solutions) determining an active life in old age.
This monograph also attempted to answer the question regarding how to transfer the idea of intergenerational learning into the realm of practice. This issue complements the chapter on the implementation of intergenerational programs in institutions providing long-term care support. The book also outlines a public policy on ageing in the perspective of the changes over the last few decades (Slovenia) and the case demonstrating solutions to accelerate self-reliance as a key to active ageing (Turkey).
We hope that seventh volume of our series will be an intellectual stimulus for further international research on change in social policy and will contribute to the dissemination of best practices as well as contribute to positive social change.