There were 17,490 students participating in lifelong learning activities in 2005, representing 5.5 per cent of the adult population, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

In 2005, 17,490 students participated in formal and non-formal lifelong learning activities. Of these, over 50 per cent were women. There were 3,470 students attending classes at government evening classes centres (excluding MCAST), of which 75 per cent were women. The largest proportion of persons, 34 per cent, were enrolled in a course where the field of study was technical or crafts, followed by 19 per cent who were following courses in arts and humanities.

A further 9,805 students were enrolled in courses in the 50 private evening classes centres that responded to this survey. In this case, the largest proportion of persons were following courses in arts and humanities, followed by business and administration and computing. In private evening classes centres, 48 per cent of students were women.

Evening courses at MCAST attracted 2,578 students, of whom 72 per cent were men.

These students were predominantly enrolled in the institute for art and design, and in the maritime institute.

In 2005, there were 950 students attending adult literacy classes provided by the government. The largest proportion of students were following a course in a secondary level subject, followed by basic Maltese and basic English. Women comprised 68 per cent of these students.

The University of the Third Age had 687 persons enrolled in courses, of which 60 per cent were aged 70 and over and 74 per cent were women.