21世纪是一个老龄化的社会,老年人的社会经济价值将得到进一步的体现。老年教育可以使老年人力资本得到提升和维护,这是已有老年经济学研究和实践上所忽视或未予强调的,显然不利于老龄化社会里各种老龄问题的解决。老年人接受正规学校教育是上世纪70年代以来出现的一种新的教育形式,现已在许多发达国家和发展中国家呈现出规模化、组织化和大众化的发展态势。中国将“老有所教”、“老有所学”确定为解决老龄问题的主要举措之一,中国的老年教育也有了长足的发展。 The 21st century is an aging society, the social and economic value of the elderly will be further reflected. Geriatric education can elevate and safeguard the human capital of the elderly, which is neglected or not emphasized in the research and practice of old-age economics. It is obviously not conducive to solving all kinds of aging problems in an aging society. The acceptance of formal school education by the elderly is a new form of education that has emerged since the 1970s and has now shown a trend toward large-scale, organized and popularized development in many developed and developing countries. China has identified “old teaching” and “old learning” as one of the major measures to solve the problem of aging, and China’s education for old age has also made great strides.