Don't the elderly deserve better?

Like Janice Chetcuti (A Memorable Week in Education, July 31), I too feel very happy that state schools in Malta and Gozo and education in general are being given greater and greater attention for the benefit of the children and young people in the Maltese islands.

We read about new schools being built and others being refurbished to make them more welcoming for the students who use them. Our younger generation deserves all this.

However, it is rather disappointing to note that for the elderly Maltese citizens who attend regularly for morning lectures at the university of third age at the old university building, entrance through 31, St Christopher Street, Valletta, the lecture-hall remains a most gloomy, unattractive and dilapidated environment. For the last 14 years that the university of third age has existed in Malta, nothing was ever done to make the lecture hall for the senior citizens aged 60+ to 80+ more comfortable and welcoming!

These are the seniors who are determined to further their lifelong education and rain or shine, trudge in the morning from the bus terminus in Valletta to St Christopher Street for the lectures of their choice.

Several of these seniors are quite active and still contribute not only to their own family but also to Maltese society at large. These elderly students do not receive any stipends for their studies. Instead, they help the country by the taxes which they pay. They certainly deserve more consideration and respect. Don't they deserve any better?