Data shows that China will transition from an aging society to an aging society around 2022, when the population aged 65 and above will account for more than 14% of the total population. Today, as the number of elderly people increases day by day, how to make the elderly "enjoyed

data shows that China will transition from an aging society to an aging society around 2022, when the population aged 65 and above will account for more than 14% of the total population. Today, as the number of elderly people increases day by day, how to make the elderly "enjoyed in old age" has become a hot topic of social concern.

A reporter from the Beijing News found in an interview that public universities for the elderly are often hard to find because of their rich courses and low fees. Although the number continues to increase, they still cannot fully meet the educational needs of the elderly. At the same time, more and more institutions are entering the elderly education track.

The only "male student" in the makeup class

Various eye shadows, foundations, eyelash curlers, makeup sponges, various bottles and jars... When Liu Shihao took out the pile of things in his makeup bag, the surrounding female students were all excited. His eyes were immediately attracted. Liu Shihao himself is a bit confused. He has never been exposed to makeup or skin care, and he doesn’t even know how to open these boxes.

60-year-old Liu Shihao shows off various newly purchased cosmetics, some of which have not yet been opened.

Liu Shihao is 60 years old this year. This is his first makeup class at Shijingshan University for the Elderly, where he learns skin care and makeup removal. He just got this cosmetic bag before class on the afternoon of November 23. The "equipment" in the bag cost him more than 500 yuan. "The teacher said before class that I should bring these things, but I have never done them. I just copied the list made by the teacher and asked the people in the mall to help me get a set."

In fact, Liu Shihao prepared a set for the makeup class " The money spent is far away Not only that, he also bought books on skin care, nude makeup, stage makeup and other related topics in advance, "preview and preview first."

Although he is the only "male student" in the class, this does not affect Liu Shihao's study. enthusiasm. He carefully wrote down the key points of the teacher's explanations, and from time to time he used his mobile phone to directly take pictures of the teacher's PPT. Liu Shihao doesn't feel awkward about "men learning makeup", "I think older people also need to be more refined."

Under the teacher's persuasion, Liu Shihao also started to "slap water" on her face along with other female classmates. He pushed his glasses to the top of his head, closed his eyes tightly, slapped his hands on his face while "laughing" at himself, "I have never done this before, so this is how it is meant to be." Liu Shihao would also take the initiative to ask questions, "Hey teacher, what did you say? Is it better to do it after taking a bath, sauna or hot spring?" He was very happy when he received the teacher's affirmative answer.

The classroom atmosphere is becoming more and more relaxed. The teacher was introducing different skin care products, and Liu Shihao frowned and began to study the instructions on the bottles and cans, trying to find the right one. "I don't have eye cream, please give me some." When he encounters skin care products that he doesn't have, he will take the initiative to go to his female classmates and "borrow" some.

Liu Shihao said that he learned makeup to make videos in the future. This year, he signed up for the adult college entrance examination of the Beijing Film Academy, majoring in post-production. He said that if he studies post-production in the future, he may have to shoot videos. At that time, he can put makeup on the actors and himself. "I can also be an extra."

Liu Shihao's "university schedule" is arranged It’s full, in addition to makeup, there are also piano, painting, Chinese medicine, health care... Every Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, Liu Shihao comes to Shijingshan University for the Elderly to take classes. Originally living in Yanjiao, he moved to his daughter's house in Haidian in order to attend classes. Every Monday, he would find a hotel near Shijingshan University for the Elderly to stay so that he could attend classes the next day.

Looking for happiness in "university"

At 12 noon on December 1, there were still 15 minutes before the end of get out of class, the sound of "Kangding Love Song" came from the music class of a private elderly university called "Happy 50", and the singing students Among them is 66-year-old Wang Xuemei. Before class, she had just gone to the hospital. She didn't even have time to wait for her test report to come out, so she rushed to class without stopping.

In the music class of Happy 50, a private university for the elderly, the teacher and the elderly sang together.

Since 2019, Wang Xuemei has taken four bus stops to report here every week. She loves to laugh and chat and has become the caring "big sister" of the students.Singing, Peking Opera, electronic keyboard... Wang Xuemei counted the courses she signed up for with reporters on her fingers, "We only sang model operas at that time. Now that we are old, I don't need to send my children to kindergarten in the morning. This time is just a good time for me to learn something by myself." "

In order to attend classes, Wang Xuemei is willing to "invest". "I think spending four to five thousand yuan a year, which is only one or two months' salary, is still affordable." Wang Xuemei told reporters that in order to attend classes, her son bought it for her. Got a new electronic keyboard.

Like Wang Xuemei, 58-year-old Hou Jingli also feels that studying at a senior university has made up for the regrets of her youth. In 2019, Hou Jingli, who had retired for three years, found that her life was getting further and further away from her original job in the hospital. Suddenly free, Hou Jingli's idea of ​​learning something flourished like a tree and was out of control.

Known as a "little expert in taking classes", she signed up for 8 classes at Shijingshan University for the Elderly, including yoga, folk dance, modeling, painting, singing, etc. From Monday to Friday, she said, "Senior There are many university courses and the tuition is not high, so I quickly signed up. "

Hou Jingli lives near the Garden Expo Park. It takes half an hour to get to the University for the Elderly, whether you walk on the Fifth Ring Road or a small road. If the weather is bad or there is traffic jam, it will take even longer. Although tired, Hou Jingli never tired of it. In Hou Jingli's view, there is too much happiness here.

Affected by the epidemic, offline courses at Shijingshan University for the Elderly were temporarily suspended. Hou Jingli's days at home became trivial again. When classes resumed in September this year, Hou Jingli was extremely happy and could finally start school again.

Hou Jingli started attending senior college, and her friends and family could often see her learning achievements. Hou Jingli has a friend who lives near Shijingshan University for the Elderly and often invites her to his home for lunch during class. Hou Jingli learned songs in the morning and would sing them in front of her friends' houses. "They were on the first floor. As soon as they heard singing, they knew it was me." In the family group, Hou Jingli often shared her paintings, a peony or A painting of landscapes and praises from friends and family made Hou Jingli particularly happy, "When my children give me likes, I am very happy."

Why do the elderly like to attend classes at the University for the Elderly? According to Director Liu Yuemei of Shijingshan University for the Elderly, many elderly people come here because of social needs. “It’s not necessarily necessary to learn how to draw beautifully or how to sing well. What they like is the atmosphere here.”

A public university for the elderly that relies on government support

Reporters learned from Beijing Shijingshan University for the Elderly that since the school resumed classes in September 2020, a total of 39 classes have been opened in the new semester, and more than 500 people have taken classes here. There are many courses and low fees. This is what attracts the elderly to public universities for the elderly. But this also means that it is difficult for public universities for the elderly to achieve "breakeven" by relying solely on course income.

In fact, most public universities for the elderly are funded by government support and are non-profit schools. Therefore, government support and policy guidance have become the key to running schools smoothly. Districts with relatively sufficient funds will naturally invest more funds, and vice versa.

Shijingshan University for the Elderly was established in 1998. The Shijingshan District Government commissioned Shijingshan Amateur University to open the Shijingshan University for the Elderly. This is the first university for the elderly in Beijing that is independently set up by a district to run an adult higher education institution for the elderly in society. Universities run universities for the elderly, which allow the elderly to fully enjoy the university's classrooms, equipment, teachers and other learning resources.

Liu Yuemei, director of the school’s Senior Education Department, said that for many years, Shijingshan Senior University’s funding has mainly relied on additional “subsidies” from amateur universities in addition to government support. Despite government funding, the hardware and software of senior universities still need to be improved. "For example, class equipment needs to be constantly updated, and an electronic screen costs several thousand yuan. There are also teachers. In addition to teachers from amateur universities, some courses require external teachers, and their class fees also need to be considered." Liu Yuemei said, while On the one hand, there are continuous investment of funds, and on the other hand, there are course fees that have not changed for decades. "We cannot support ourselves by relying on the tuition fees of the University for the Elderly."

The Beijing Open University for the Elderly, newly established at the end of 2019, is also worried about funding.Yin Bingshan, deputy director of the Social Education Department of Beijing Open University and a professor at the School of Education, revealed that the Beijing Open University for the Elderly was established during the epidemic and has not held classes offline. Currently, it mainly provides free videos online, delivers free offline classes to the community, and provides care for the elderly. mechanism.

Taking helping the elderly to cross the "digital divide" as an example, Yin Bingshan told reporters that online, the school uses the live broadcast platform as a medium to invite experts and scholars to deliver lessons to the elderly in the form of a series of public welfare lectures; it also uses its official WeChat public account "乐乐" "Lingxueyuan" has uploaded 10 smart life video course resources, covering the use of smartphones, how to use WeChat, how to use travel software, etc. Offline, the school gives full play to the advantages of the system in running schools, taps teachers from its own school and branches in various districts, carries out offline teaching, sends a series of courses such as smartphone training to elderly care service institutions, and explores a model of integrating education with education.

"But this approach cannot last long." Yin Bingshan admitted that Beijing Open University for the Elderly is currently affiliated with Beijing Open University. "The venue and personnel are provided by Beijing Open University. If we have no income for a long time, the school will also be under financial pressure."

In Yin Bingshan’s view, as a public elderly education institution, the positioning of a university for the elderly is “public welfare” rather than “profit.” Public universities for the elderly need financial support from the government. "The current problem is that there is no stable and continuous funding investment mechanism."

Yin Bingshan suggested that in the development of education for the elderly, the education authorities must have stable and continuous funding investment. At the same time, public education institutions for the elderly can also Properly "generate income" and realize a learning cost sharing mechanism in which older learners contribute part and the government subsidizes part. "Some innovations in teaching can be carried out based on the needs and characteristics of the elderly. For example, we are recently considering whether grandparents and grandchildren can study together, combine extracurricular education for teenagers with education for the elderly, and integrate educational services."

In addition to funding, Teachers are also a big constraint. The reporter learned that teachers in public universities for the elderly are generally composed of local teachers and external teachers, with external teachers accounting for the vast majority. At the same time, there are still a small number of teachers who are specialized in serving the elderly and managing education for the elderly. Due to the location of teaching, some external teachers cannot teach in schools for a long time, and there is instability in the teaching staff.

At Shijingshan University for the Elderly, older students share the university’s outstanding teachers, and the expert professors who teach college students also appear in the classes at the University for the Elderly. Liu Yuemei suggested that the Beijing Municipal Government should take the lead in setting up a municipal teacher resource bank dedicated to senior universities and provide teachers with certain subsidies. This can not only solve the problem of not knowing which teachers to choose to teach, but also solve the problem of teachers’ lack of teaching location to a certain extent. The problem of being unable to come to class due to limiting factors such as tuition fees and tuition fees.

In this regard, Yin Bingshan also expressed the hope that a lecture expert database can be established at the municipal level in the future to meet the different needs of teachers in various senior universities. At the same time, Yin Bingshan also suggested clarifying the teacher fee standards for senior universities. “For example, some teachers have senior professional titles and can be paid according to their professional titles. Of course, it will still be lower than the market. But many popular teachers in senior education do not have Those who have been assessed for professional titles will encounter difficulty in paying tuition fees. The municipal-level Open University for the Elderly also hopes to organize experts to evaluate teachers’ teaching salary standards when establishing a teacher database, so that each district’s Open University for the Elderly can have a basis for recruiting teachers. "

Whether private education institutions can enter the game. Ease the education difficulties of the elderly?

Beijing’s Happy 50, Guangzhou’s Wonderful Years, Hangzhou’s Sunshine for You, Changsha’s Happy Seniors University... In recent years, more and more private senior education institutions have entered the senior education track. Some private elderly education institutions specialize in "small but refined" for specific groups. For example, the students of "Le Tui Clan" are mainly elderly people who are interested in fashion models, and "Mochi" mainly gathers people who love calligraphy. Older students.

The elderly education track has also attracted the attention of capital.According to incomplete statistics from reporters, since 2020, many elderly education service institutions or institutions including the elderly education sector have received financing, including Le Tuizu, Retirement Club, Red Pine Academy, etc.

reporters found that currently, most private elderly education institutions offer many courses with experience and performance characteristics, such as musical instruments, dance, singing, dance performances, etc. Such courses are more likely to generate consumption of products and services. However, course fees are not the “main battleground” for private elderly education institutions’ revenue. They are working hard to explore profit points outside of courses, such as study tours.

According to media reports, the services of Good Year are divided into three aspects: courses, course supporting products and services, and joint consumption and tourism. According to data provided by the team, course fees currently account for 40% of total revenue, joint consumption accounts for 20%, and travel accounts for 40%.

According to IT Juzi's "2020 China Elderly Education Market Research Report", more than 90% of Happy 50 students are women aged 50 to 65, and the average annual course consumption of students is more than 1,000 yuan. In Happy 50’s course fee system, a course with six classes and 12 hours has a membership price of 599 yuan. According to Dang Yue, the founder of Happy 50, although it is much higher than the cost of a public university for the elderly, which is only more than 300 yuan per semester, compared with youth education and training that often charges by the hour, the class fee is obviously not high. To the point of being outrageous.

But it is obvious that Happy 50 cannot survive solely by relying on course income. Party Yue told reporters that Happy 50 has formed a three-linked model of senior universities, sports events and study tours, and sports events and study tours are also important sources of resources.

Currently, Happy 50 has opened 6 campuses in Beijing, with a total of more than 10,000 students. However, in the interview, the party mentioned the word "maintaining operations" many times, "It cannot be said to be a profit or a loss, it can be said to be maintaining operations."

"From a business perspective, public universities for the elderly, especially those in first- and second-tier cities, are actually in a state of 'supply exceeds demand'. The demand for the elderly is huge. However, the 'supply' is insufficient, and the new demand for the elderly , such as photography, there are some niche hobbies that have not been satisfied." Zhang Qianyun, vice president of Huaying Capital, analyzed that the supply side of senior education is seriously insufficient, whether online or offline. From this perspective, senior universities There is a market.

However, Zhang Qianjun is not optimistic about the university market for the elderly. She believes that the biggest need for the elderly to "go to college" is social interaction. As long as the market is sufficiently segmented in the future, these needs can be met by various business formats. "The model of public universities for the elderly cannot be replicated. The elderly spend very little money on public universities for the elderly." Zhang Qianyun said that overall, the number of private universities for the elderly is still very small. At the same time, most private universities for the elderly None of them can rely solely on courses to make profits. “They all rely on financing or study tour products.”

For private elderly education institutions that lack policy support, difficulties in realizing cash and making profits are still real problems they face. It is not easy to find a way out of the education track. But for the elderly, in the context of the "silver age economy", more and more elderly education institutions are opening online and offline, which may provide them with more choices in their "study" journey and better serve them. Meet their social, entertainment and self-actualization needs.

Beijing News reporter Yang Feifei proofread by Li Shihui