What should people with rich life and professional experience do when they put an end to their active career after reaching pension age? Many Bulgarian men and women in their sixties ask that question. A group of elderly Bulgarian intellectuals launched in Sofia a National Bulgarian University named Third Age, in order to escape from the vicious circle of doing nothing, which includes watching TV or visiting the general practitioner. The model is popular in Europe and is based on universities which defend the interests of elderly people and help them maintain a good level of knowledge and skills. The university envisages qualification and re-qualification courses for pensioners. Here is what the rector of The University of the Third Age Gancho Popov who is an expert in economics and human resources told Radio Bulgaria:

“We made a sociological survey before we launched our university. We asked people what were the problems they were mostly interested in? All respondents answered that their top priority was to learn how to use computers and mobile applications successfully. The elderly Bulgarians are full of sorrow that they are left alone at home and have nobody around. We asked all Bulgarian ministries to provide us technical assistance and already received 10 desktops and 10 laptopsfrom Bulgaria's Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. We have been negotiating with mayors of Bulgarian municipalities to send them technical equipment, so that our lecturers can visit their pensioners clubs and teach the elderly people how to use computers and other modern technologies. Fortunately, we received a warm welcome and many mayors let us use public halls free of charge. The lecturers will also work for free. Our next module of lectures is dedicated to protection of civil rights and mechanisms for preventing property and financial frauds.”

The University of the Third Age will develop its own research and development activity and will focus on the social system and the problems of the Bulgarian pensioners. Lecturers and associates of the university will form pressure groups, in order to solve topical problems through existing civil structures and clubs. Over 2 million Bulgarian pensioners live at the poverty line. Dr Gancho Popov outlined the first steps his team would undertake in that respect:

“We wrote a call at my initiative stating that the minimum pension in Bulgaria must amount to at least EUR 170 per month. There is enough money for that purpose. We can find enough money for the Bulgarian pensioners, if the state holds responsible those who made disadvantageous deals with public property, in order to get fat commissions. The prosecutor's office should deal with those individuals. We decided to send our call for higher pensions to a series of local national and international institutions, because we believe that we do not deserve such a destiny. Let me remind that Bulgaria is the country that gave many talents to Europe", Rector Gancho Popov concludes.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov