Abstract
The Education of the Elderly is a topic of interest in the field of Adult Education. The objectives of this research were to investigate the educational needs of the elderly in the Region of Crete, to highlight the importance of education and training in the elderly, as well as the lack of a Third Age University in the Region of Crete. A quantitative method was applied to investigate these objectives and the use of a printed questionnaire was chosen as the method of collecting the research material. Data were recorded in thematic sections related to (1) the desire to acquire new knowledge in the respective fields, (2) the reasons that make it difficult to acquire knowledge, (3) the desired way of education and (4) the need to establish a Third Age University. Finally, the answers were compared between the two sexes. The results of the 400 participants showed that 51.13% of the elderly state that they are not satisfied with the knowledge they have about various subjects while 95.50% of the elderly state that they need to learn new things. The potential fields that the elderly prefer to be educated are numerous, with the field of Health and Psychology coming first in preference. The absence of an educational institution was recorded as the most important reason for prevention from education; the elderly prefer the education in a classroom with a teacher and classmates and want their education to be provided by an official institution such as the Third Age University which they request to be founded in the Region of Crete. The comparison between the two sexes showed that as potential trainees they have different needs and are interests but the desire to establish an institute and the preferred method of education are similar in men and women.
