英國呼籲年逾花甲者回歸校園接受培訓大綱

People in their sixties should go to university to retrain because they will be expected to work for longer before retirement, the Government has suggested.

Older workers who take courses to keep their skills up to date will be more likely to keep their jobs, claims David Willetts, the higher education minister.

Mr Willetts said the age limit on student loans to cover tuition fees had been lifted, making a degree course “great value” for older people. This would help them cope with the pressure they would face to keep up to date as they worked well into their sixties, he suggested.

His comments followed a government report which found that the country’s future economic success would depend on the skills and contributions of older workers.

Campaigners for the elderly voiced doubts that prospective pensioners would be willing to commit to challenging degree courses and increased levels of debt to continue working.

One in four people will be older than 65 by 2033 and economists have warned that the ageing population will place an unsustainable burden on taxpayers unless more people work for longer.

The state pension age is to rise to 67 by 2028. Ministers have warned that they have no idea when younger workers in their thirties will be able to retire.

Mr Willetts, who is accompanying David Cameron in India, urged workers older than 60 to give further education serious consideration. “There is certainly a pressure for continuing to get retrained and upskilled,” he said. “Higher education has an economic benefit in that if you stay up to date with knowledge and skills you are more employable.”

Mr Willetts said a university course had “wider” benefits, making people more likely to lead healthy lives.

“Education is such a good thing it is not reserved for younger people,” he said. “There will be people of all ages who will want to study. There is great value in lifelong learning.”

Under previous rules, students in England were eligible for a loan to cover tuition fees only if they were younger than 54.

Latest figures showed that only 1,940 undergraduates starting courses last year were older than 60, out of a total of 552,240 students in Britain. Some 6,455 were aged between 50 and 60, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.英國政府建議年齡超過60歲的人回到學校重新接受培訓，因爲預計這些人的退休年齡會推後。

英國高等教育大臣大衛•威利茨表示，通過參加課程學習最新技能的老年工作者更有可能保住飯碗。

威利茨稱可以用於支付學費的助學貸款的申請年齡上限已經取消，老年人學習學位課程將“超值”。他指出，這有助於老年工作者在年齡超過60歲後應對要跟上時代變化所帶來的壓力。

他的此番評論是在政府公佈一份報告之後發表的。政府報告指出，國家今後的經濟發展能否取得成功取決於老年工作者的技術與貢獻程度。

爲老年人權益奔走吶喊的活動家對此深表懷疑：那些有可能成爲養老金領取者的人是否願意爲了繼續工作而學習學位課程，並承擔更多的負債。

到2033年，英國將有四分之一的人年齡超過65歲，有經濟學家已經警告稱，如果沒有更多的人延長工作時間，人口老齡化問題將無疑給納稅人造成難以承受的負擔。

到2028年，國家規定領取養老金的年齡將提高到67歲。大臣們已經警告稱，不知現在30多歲的年輕工作者還能不能熬到退休。

正陪同首相大衛•卡梅倫出訪印度的威利茨敦促年齡超過60歲的工作者認真考慮一下繼續教育問題。“再次接受培訓、提高工作技能自然存在壓力，”他說。“不過，接受高等教育會產生一定的經濟效益，因爲如果你不斷更新知識與技能，你就更能勝任工作。”

威利茨認爲，大學課程確實會提供“更加廣泛”的益處，可以讓人更能過上健康的生活。

他表示，“教育誠可貴，並非只爲年輕人提供。任何人不論年齡多大，只要想學都可以。要知道，終生學習受益匪淺。”

根據以前的規定，英國學生申請助學貸款以支付學費的條件是年齡不超過54歲。

最新數據顯示，在英國共計55萬2240名學生中，去年開課的大學本科生中只有1940人年齡超過60歲。根據高等教育統計署的統計，有約6455人年齡介於50到60歲之間。