U3E students urged to research Maltese culture

It was back to school yesterday for the 850 students of the University of the Third Age, this academic year marking the 10th anniversary of its foundation.

About 150 freshers joined the U3E this year and it is hoped that more elderly members of society would be encouraged to join.

University chancellor and U3E chairman John Rizzo Naudi spoke of the need to reach the many other potential members through more marketing. Rather than spending their post-retirement days sitting on a bench, they should be attending the university.

He urged the students to carry out research projects to record certain cultural aspects of Malta, which were destined to be lost once the elderly generations passed away. Working groups should be organised to embark on these projects.

Prof. Joseph Troisi, director of the department of gerontology of which the U3E forms part, pointed out that the only thorn in the "successful" U3E was the state of the premises - the Old University in Valletta - and the physical environment in which the elderly students followed lectures.

During the year, it was hoped that either other premises would be found, or their current environment improved.

Among the wide-ranging courses, Prof. Frederick Fenech would be creating a 'mini medical school', teaching students about medical issues in layman's terms.

University rector Roger Ellul Micallef said U3E was also being given international scope, through a foreign exchange programme - the University of Malta has 600 foreign full-time students.