Yinzhou University for The Elderly Listed among National Demonstration Schools

　　On the morning of January 27, students of Yinzhou University for The Elderly began their spring semester. “I am going to learn to play more difficult Erhu pieces such as The Moon Over a Fountain and Galloping on the Prairies.” This is the resolution Yan Mengjin, who learned to playing Erhu in this university, set for his new semester.
　　Meng had been a fan of musical instrumentssince he was a boy, but he had never had the chance totake any music classes. When hearing that Erhu classes are available in Yinzhou University for The Elderly last year, he applied to be a student of the Erhu classes.
　　Yinzhou has been building a lifelong educationsystem in recent years, shaping an environment where all the citizens can be perpetual students. Up to now,32 majors in total have been provided for students and therehave been over 6,200 students divided into 132 classes in Yinzhou University for The Elderly. Compared with any other universities for the elderly of the same level, Yinzhou University for The Elderly has more students and majors. In addition, it is the only university for the elderly that provides free education in China. Recently,it became the only university in Ningbo that was elected among the national demonstration universities for the elderly.
　　Li Songxun, 70, has been studying in Yinzhou University for The Elderly for 12 years. He has learned cooking, photography and computer skills. He likes taking photos when travelling and now he has becomea whizz atimage processing.
　　Shen Jianna started learning photography in Yinzhou University for The Elderly after her retirement last year. She used to take photos with her cell phone but now she is quite a photographer with professional equipment.
　　According to statistics, there are more than 174 thousand registered Yinzhou citizens who are over 59 years’ old, accounting for 21.9% of all registered Yinzhou citizens, which is above the average level of ZhejiangProvince. To provide education for such a large aging population, Yinzhou has issued proposals on the establishment of branches of universities for the elderly and the standardization of the construction of the universities. Making the best use of education resources such as adult education and cultural activities in neighborhoods, Yinzhou set up more branches of Yinzhou University for The Elderly in many neighborhoods including Zhonggong Temple. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to raise money for the universities so that the government and students can pay less.
　　Costing nearly one million yuan, Youpinsongnian School is the first university for the elderly in Ningbo that is financed by private enterprises.