At 80 she enrolls in primary school in Uganda

An 80-year-old woman enrolled back into primary school at Bugandalo Village, Ibulanku Sub-county, Bugweri District, in order to become a teacher.

Maria Obonyo, a farmer, said Monday that after enduring a lot of “suffering and humiliation” she decided to go to school to learn how to speak and write good English.

According to the humiliated old woman: “I decided to go to school because I lost all my loved ones and there is no one to take care of me. I’m determined to study until I graduate from Makerere University as a teacher,” she told the Daily Monitor. If Mrs. Obonyo will finish her schooling, she will be then 96 years old.

However, Obonyo says she is currently facing a myriad of challenges, including the inability to pay her tuition fees of 35,000 shillings per quarter. “I also need a better place to sleep because I currently live in someone else’s house called Tagero,” she said.

According to Mr. Magero, Ms. Obonyo’s decision to enroll in elementary school at this age is an inspiration to her peers and those who dropped out of school.

The principal of the school, Mrs. Stella Tayona, is proud of Ms. Obonyo’s decision.

“She is a hardworking student who never misses classes and who is sociable with her classmates,” she said.