THE «THIRD AGE» AT CLASSICAL UNIVERSITIES: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND RUSSIAN REALITY

The article analyses international experience of educational institutions in relation to the people of the «third age» (retired members of the community) taking some European and American countries as an example. The main attention is paid to the specialized educational programs for people of the «third age» at classical universities. The paper discusses the reasons for offering special courses for this category of students in classical universities of many countries (within the continuing education system), as well as the specifics of the offered educational programmes and the organization of training the «third age» citizens. Alongside, the current situation in continuing education sector of Russian universities and their readiness to open the doors for the «third age» students is discussed. The «third age» issues are widely and adequately covered by the Russian science. However, the survey conducted by the author, revealed a low degree of readiness of Russian classical universities to work with the students of the «third age». The article analyses the reasons for the present situation, such as: stereotypes, demographics, educational traditions of Russian universities and higher education legislation. The conclusion is made that in the near future Russian classical universities will not be able to offer educational courses for the «third age» people on a broad scale.