Catalonia is one of the 17 autonomous regions of government in Spain. It is an area in the northeast of Spain with over 6 million people, a low birth rate (1.09 children per woman) and thus an aging society. The capital of Catalonia is Barcelona. To the outside world Catalonia is famous for its Basque separatist terrorist organization called 'Eta'. Modern Catalans are proud of their unique language, culture, history, traditions and world beating football team but the general appetite for armed revolt is at a very low ebb.
Catalonia has social and economic problems, just as with the rest of Spain. One problem that is not often mentioned in the mass media, but that is still important is the lack of education among the elderly population.
The Twentieth Century saw a massive influx of immigration into Catalonia. The official figure is 2 million. Many of these first generation immigrants are now old and are lacking in formal education. Also many of those born in Catalonia in the mid-Twentieth Century received poor education partly due to the disruption caused by World War Two followed by the Spanish Civil War. Added to this was the economic depression that the Franco era left behind. Now in the early part of the Twenty-first Century Spain and Catalonia are entering another severe depression partly fuelled by worries over the credibility of the Euro Zone to weather the disaster caused by continuing Greek debt defaults.
Until the 1970s there was no compulsory schooling system in Spain offering modern and generalist education. This has left many elderly people lacking in 'basic skills' education. By 'basic skills' we mean reading-writing and numeracy.
Naturally basic skills are only the beginning of lifelong learning. It is essential after the basic skills have been mastered to move on to a general education covering the sciences and humanities. After this general education has been concluded and the necessary certificates gained there is tertiary education to consider. This is either specializing in an academic field or going on to more vocational training.
Either path in tertiary education has the inherent advantage for the elderly in increasing self-esteem and confidence, as well as opening up new opportunities to participate in society. As with most European countries an aging society has meant that the elderly can no longer 'disappear' from society to quietly and anonymously live out their twilight years. Rather the able-bodied elderly are finding it increasingly necessary to engage in the cultural, social and financial life of their area. In order to do so it is imperative to have a good education.
AFOPA (Arupacio d'Aules de Formacio Permanent per a la Gent Gran de Catalunya) along with other organizations throughout Catalonia are working to promote and provide resources for lifelong learning. This requires not only effective fund raising (government subsidies fall short), but also the sourcing of centers of learning as well as suitable teachers. Another challenge of AFOPA is to fund classroom materials and to co-ordinate syllabuses with regional and national syllabuses so that all qualifications gained by the elderly are recognized and relevant.
AFOPA follows the system pioneered in France by Professor Pierre Vellas who in 1972 set up the 'University of the Third Age'. At present AFOPA is associated with 8 universities in Catalonia: Barcelona, Lleida, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Pompeu Fabra, the Girona, Rovira i Virgili, and Vic. Lessons are given by university professors or people recognized in their field. Thus, the elderly of Catalonia are getting the best educational inputs available.
The difference between the 'Catalan Model' and the original model provided by Professor Pierre Vellas is that Catalonian students are encouraged to continue their association with the classroom and the process of learning after graduation. This is to encourage new students, to combat loneliness among the elderly, and to promote the formation of formal and informal self-help groups among the students.
Learning is for life, and for those who were denied a proper education early in life it is vital that the quest for knowledge, understanding and skill acquisition start now.
Education in Catalonia needs to span a wide range of areas, with the improvements that have already been made in the key areas of reading, writing, humanities, sciences and social studies the next step is to introduce a greater knowledge in health related matters.
One such area that needs focus is that of smoking related illnesses. Not only do the dangers need to be addressed in youngsters early on but also to those who already smoke and may not have been educated in the full dangers at a time in their life when it was important.
There are many choices smokers have in helping them either quit or even just try an alternative. One such alternative is the electronic cigarette, they are only just gaining popularity in many parts of the world but when you look at e cigarettes in the UK and the USA they are making a difference in many ex cigarette smokers lives.
These are not the only methods that can be used to quit smoking of course there is hypnotherapy, acupuncture, NRT, mobile phone apps, books plus many many more. The most important thing is to not only educate about the dangers but also about the choices smokers have.
There are many reasons why singles would choose to use UK online dating sites as the communication channel through which they are able to meet other singles and hopefully their lifetime partner. Online dating is quite convenient and affordable as well helping the person searching to take their time while interacting with singles from diverse backgrounds, ages, social standing among others. These dating sites allow their members to build profiles that portray them in a positive light to any potential partners that they might be interested in or those that are interested in them.
However, even with an impressive profile there are some singles that have not been successful in meeting any potential partners as a member on online dating sites. Most times it is because they do not know how to have a conversation that makes them appealing to the person that they have met while online dating. The skill needed by such singles is one known as seduction and it has to be learnt in order to be effective while seeking to impress. The art of seduction may not be by many involved in online dating but its results are evident with the many singles that have used it while seeking partners online.
One of the most famous teachers of the seduction is known as Derek Rake who has a website as well as a newsletter known as ‘the rake’ that focuses on teaching singles on successful ways to seduce a person that they are interested in. There are a few steps that are to be followed by any man who wants to easily date women either meeting in physical locations as well as those that exclusively date through dating sites. On both these platforms the seduction skills taught by Derek Rake have been successful.
Let’s say you’re interested in working in the wine industry. At first, you might not think that there are many choices out there for you. First, you have to realize that there are a ton of other jobs in the industry other than being a winemaker.
Even if we take away the standard business side for any direct to consumer brand, there are choices as well. Think about the entire production process of wine. People earn viticulture degrees to work with vine growth. There are chemists to test PH levels of the wine and even sugar levels of the grapes. There are cellar masters to keep both finished and unfished products organized and at the correct temperature. There are people in the tasting rooms to pour and talk about the wines. Of course there are chef’s and other businesses which often exist either working directly or indirectly with wineries. I bring all that up because getting an education in wine doesn’t necessarily mean attending UC Davis and learning to be a winemaker. There are plenty of other paths including those which can start in high school, or even at your local community college.
It is becoming increasing the case that elderly people can simply put down their chattels at 60 or 65 and retire. Greek civil servants have recently discovered that they won’t be able to retire from the service on 80% of their salary. Baby booms, bad financial decisions by banks, government ineptitude in collecting tax, credit crises etc. has led to a situation where retirement is not guaranteed or attractive.
In such a situation education for the elderly becomes very relevant. There are many jobs in computing, in engineering, in the service industries that are not dependent on moving around a lot and place more of a mental strain on the worker rather than a physical one.
Part of the role of elderly education programs is to provide courses of study that are relevant to the current local job market. Many of the elderly have limited experience in the new jobs that have arisen in many fields over the last 20 years. This is especially true in information technology. IT is an ever-expanding field that struggles to find enough qualified staff to deal with ever increasing workloads.
These are ideal jobs for the elderly because many of them can be carried out from home. They can also be outsourced to associations that train and employ elderly people for just such work.
It is not necessarily a bad thing, health permitting for the old to continue paid employment. It brings a feeling of self-worth and participation. The notion of sitting at home and waiting for God goes when you are busy and part of the economy.
It is important the U3A organizations as well as other programs for elderly education realize the potential for re-training the elderly for work.