In the National University of the Northwest of Buenos Aires Province's (UNNOBA) centres in Junín and Pergamino, the Office of Cultural Affairs offers a wide range of cultural and educational activities that are open to the community, including PEPSAM. The main aim of PEPSAM is to draw up an institutionalised education proposal that is focused on opportunities for elderly people and meets the specific demands of this sector of the population. PEPSAM’s work is based on the conviction that continuing, informal training improves people’s quality of life and encourages their participation in the community. Thus, such education brings about major changes that help create a more ethical and respectful society.
UNNOBA’s Office of Cultural Affairs (DECU) works to complement, assist and accompany the social, political, economic and cultural processes that are underway in the regional community of the northwest of Buenos Aires Province by preparing and training agents who will collaborate in the region’s development. Through university extension programs, UNNOBA legitimizes its presence in society, links society to university knowledge and promotes equal access to education, in order to subsequently achieve equal access to a better quality of life.
The Program is open to all people over 55 years old who are lucid, autonomous and willing to learn and get involved in group tasks. Specifically, it is aimed at people who have retired or who are about to retire. No proof of formal education or any previous studies are required to enter the program, other than a minimum degree of literacy so that students can access new knowledge. The content of the Program is divided into subject areas and many of the topics that are currently studied were mentioned in surveys of interest filled out by the students before the courses. Participants can choose between seminar or workshop activities on topics such as literature, art, geography, history, computing and memory. The program also includes talks that can contribute to the knowledge of specific aging-related topics.
There has been unprecedented demographic change in today’s world, along with a notable increase in life expectancy in many countries. Elderly people remain healthy and need to be socially active for longer. As a result of the social and psychological aspects of longevity and ageing, there is a need for new spaces and new meanings for the elderly. In the current social context, which is characterised by the speed of changes and the uncertainty that this generates, there are still no places or socially valued roles for the elderly. Universities have a role to play in this social situation and should develop appropriate and effective activities to transform it. Continuing education, in its informal, participative and social mode, is an effective resource for social participation and for increasing the quality of life of elderly people.
Therefore, the National University of the Northwest of Buenos Aires Province (UNNOBA) has developed the Education and Health Promotion for the Elderly Programme (PEPSAM), which is aimed at educating people over 55 years’ old. This programme is managed by UNNOBA’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
In UNNOBA’s centres in Junín and Pergamino, the Office of Cultural Affairs offers a wide range of cultural and educational activities that are open to the community, including PEPSAM. The main aim of PEPSAM is to draw up an institutionalised education proposal that is focused on opportunities for elderly people and meets the specific demands of this sector of the population. PEPSAM’s work is based on the conviction that continuing, informal training improves people’s quality of life and encourages their participation in the community. Thus, such education brings about major changes that help create a more ethical and respectful society.
UNNOBA’s Office of Cultural Affairs (DECU) works to complement, assist and accompany the social, political, economic and cultural processes that are underway in the regional community of the northwest of Buenos Aires Province by preparing and training agents who will collaborate in the region’s development. Through university extension programmes, UNNOBA legitimises its presence in society, links society to university knowledge and promotes equal access to education, in order to subsequently achieve equal access to a better quality of life.
The Programme is open to all people over 55 years’ old who are lucid, autonomous and willing to learn and get involved in group tasks. Specifically, it is aimed at people who have retired or who are about to retire. No proof of formal education or any previous studies are required to enter the Programme, other than a minimum degree of literacy so that students can access new knowledge. The content of the Programme is divided into subject areas and many of the topics that are currently studied were mentioned in surveys of interests filled in by the students before the courses. Participants can choose between seminar or workshop activities on topics such as literature, art, geography, history, computing and memory. The programme also includes talks that can contribute to knowledge of specific ageing-related topics.
The general objectives of PEPSAM, as a university extension program, are as follows:
To promote and consolidate UNNOBA’s commitment to the community by planning and organizing cultural activities.
To promote the democratization of knowledge by disseminating scientific and non-scientific knowledge, through different activities and outreach programs.
To establish real spaces for training for the community, in order to disseminate advances in knowledge.
To stimulate the participation of cultural agents and the community in the cultural activities.
To establish permanent links with public and private cultural organizations at local, regional, national and international levels.
To devise and implement international cooperation policies and draw up agreements that promote exchange and links between UNNOBA and national and international scientific and cultural organizations to foster the integration, cultural and academic enrichment of the university’s lecturers, graduates and students.
The specific objectives include the following:
To contribute to the promotion of the health and quality of life of elderly people.
To consolidate a positive and healthy social image of old age and the general process of human aging.
The process of developing and implementing PEPSAM is in keeping with the creation of the National University of the Northwest of Buenos Aires Province in 2003. UNNOBA was founded to regionalize and expand the university system in the context of a policy devised to ensure equal opportunities and access to higher education. In this context, PEPSAM was set up as a program linked to the inclusion of informal, continuing education in the university sector, by developing processes for accrediting knowledge.
Accreditation of knowledge or competences is based on an assessment process that involves verifying a participant’s knowledge and issuing a value judgment. This judgment is based on evaluating a set of characteristics that meet a previously defined need or expectation, in order to certify or guide the education of an individual. Assessment instruments and procedures are defined by the relevant university departments, but should be designed with some general common principles for all the disciplines in mind. To achieve this, a special committee was formed, coordinated by the Continuing Education Office and made up of representatives of all departments. The committee has provided a frame of reference for the work of PEPSAM since its foundation.
The university communities in Junín and Pergamino have become highly involved in various university extension proposals for elderly people, and have surpassed the expectations of those who set up the Programme. In quantitative terms, the increase in enrolment from one year to the next is substantial. In 2005, 250 people were enrolled in the city of Junín. This figure stood at 519 in 2006 and 698 in the first four-month period of 2007. Currently, 355 people participate in the Programme in the city of Pergamino. There has been a substantial increase in participation in this city since the first quarter of 2006.
In qualitative terms, the impact of the Programme can be seen in terms of changes in elderly people’s lifestyles and, above all, in the formation of new social representations of older people, which go beyond traditional stereotypes. The active participation of elderly people in the University has counteracted the widespread notion that studying in old age is ineffective. In the context of the seminars and workshops, there were many experiences related to the socio-historical background of the participants. The elderly people put their energy into their personal histories and enriched the narration of their life stories through the education that they received. Likewise, participants highlight how PEPSAM enables them to access a valuable asset that they generally could not access in the past.
Continuing education activities aimed at elderly people also provide resources and skills that help them to open up. In seminars, spaces are created that recognise individual achievements and create new bonds and exchanges of knowledge and experiences between the generations. On many occasions, participants have stated that their families helped to complete the tasks assigned in the seminars; thus, the Programme contributes to strengthening family ties.
In addition, a change has been observed in the way that the local media refer to the aged population: they have stopped using the words “pensioner”, or “old man” and “old woman”. Instead, the term “elderly people” is used and the educational offerings of the Programme are supported and disseminated.
Finally, a change has occurred in the University itself: lecturers and students, who were initially reluctant to get involved in the Programme, have expressed interest in the activities. Currently, young students and teaching staff share physical spaces and educational activities with the elderly students.
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