In Somalia, 60-years old man shines in high school exam

Hiiraan Online
Tuesday, May 31, 2016

MOGADISHU (HOL) – For Ahmadey Saney, a 60-years-old Somali man, missing out schooling when he was younger didn’t serve the end of his dream but rather a struggle that took to him to a new journey to recapture lost opportunities.

While he might possibly be the oldest pupil in Somalia, Mr. Saney hasn’t belittled his student peers, most of them a lot younger than his grandchildren but made them his close friends.

Often described as a ‘dedicated’ student by his teachers, he made headlines this week by becoming the oldest person to sit for a high school exam, drawing the attention of Somalis across the world who shared the photos of the grey-haired man sitting among young students in a class on the social media.

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Often directed with questions about his late schooling decision, Mr. Saney subsequently hit back, using one proverb which he said keeps motivated him to go back to school ‘it’s never too late to learn’.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the Somali capital this week as thousands of students have sat for the nationwide national exams, with students are expected to receive their results next month.

In 2013, the horn of Africa nation which is recovering from decades of war has implemented one of the most encouraging initiatives, Go to School, a program that offered free education for the poor students – however, the program has virtually ceased its operations since late 2014 as critics, noting the country's lack of strong institutions the program may be derailed by corruption.

Somalia’s central government is also struggling to establish a post-war national curriculum for the education system despite a stiff resistance by private education institutions that consider the initiative as a threat to their system which thrived during the civil unrest in the country after warlords overthrew the central government in 1991.

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