Gibraltar Chronicle 15th March 2006
Gibraltar Citizens Advice Bureau together with Age Concern Eastbourne, has organised a training day on the topic of ‘Older people Information and Computers’ this week.
“The Citizens Advice service has been able to identify that lack of information is evident for many older people who lack the necessary skills to access information from a computer. Older people are one of the groups who could derive a lot of benefits from new products and services that support personal development and independent living,” explained Pili Rodriguez from the Bureau.
Age concern Eastbourne’s Volunteer and Information Manager, Keith Girdler, has been working on the training day in the UK with the key concept of ‘older people directly accessing information via computers’ as the main focus.
Although this has been an initiative from the Citizens Advice Bureau locally, the bureau has received support and assistance from the Department of Education and Training, Info, Tech and Logistics Dept, Gibraltar Govt, Defence Communications services Agency, GibTelecom, and the Senior Citizens Association.
Mrs Rodriguez said that mastering the skills to accessing information via the computer is an important part of daily living for everyone in this day and age. “Knowledge on how to use a computer can save time or create more independence in managing own affairs. The main barriers are not lack of interest or even the cost of technology and services, but the lack of awareness and skills. Older people who may not have had the experience in their working years to familiarize themselves with new ways of completing everyday tasks,” she said, adding that although older people are less involved than younger people, quite a number of older people are already active participants in Information Technology.
The initiative has proven to be very popular. The bureau believes that one of the reasons for this is because the course is using older people to teach older people.
“That’s an important message we want to pass on to older people in Gibraltar. To open learning opportunities on a fair and equitable basis to people of all ages, being able to master the skills necessary to access information via the computer,” she added.
This training day will be held tomorrow at 9:30am to 4pm at Bleak House. Gibraltar Government Training Officer Edwin Reyes will officially open the course.
Citizens Advice Bureau is at 10 Governor’s lane, tel 40006, fax 40281, email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or visit our web page that is www.cab.gi.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
