92-year-old elementary school pupil inspires generation in Kenya

Now in her 90s, she is changing that, attending elementary school – and inspiring a generation.

She started five years ago as a kindergartener at a boarding school near Eldoret. She’s in fourth grade today.

“I had grandchildren and great-grandchildren who did not like going to school,” she says. “That made me mad. I decided I have to show them that education is important.”

During colonial times, some Kenyan hospitals did not keep birth records. Priscilla’s exact age is unclear, but she says she was born around 1923, when there was a famine in her hometown. Growing up, relatives told her she barely survived that famine as a toddler, which gave her a rough estimate of her birth year.

If confirmed by the Guinness World Records, she would be the oldest pupil in elementary school.

 Another Kenyan, Kimani Maruge was already in the Guinness World Records in 2004. He was named the oldest person to begin primary school. Five years later, he died at age 90.

Though Priscilla worked as a midwife for decades, she says there’s still a lot to learn.

“My favorite subject is math,” the elderly woman says. “Now that I’m in school, I know how much medicine to give the women who I help deliver their babies.”

She got married at a young age and focused on raising her 10 children.

“I could not go to school even if I wanted,” she says. “In my time, educating a woman was considered a waste of time and money.”

She enthusiastically describes her love for school and her fellow pupils, some of whom she helped bring into this world.

“They call me gogo,” she says, using the word for grandmother in her tribe. “We play in swings during the break and we talk. I like school.”

Priscilla has a special room in a corner. Outside her door there is a sign that says “education has no age limit.”

David Kinyanjui, the principal of the school, describes her as a model pupil.

“She advices our girls, she advices our boys,” he says. “She participates in everything, including PE (physical education). She’s also good at math and science, and she’s such a good storyteller.”

Priscilla’s enthusiasm is already paying off.

Her three grandchildren are her classmates. They have friendly competitions on who’ll make the best grades.

Here’s a short version of the story again. Can you fill in the gaps with words from the original text?

A woman in Kenya, who is more than 90 years old, goes to … (1) and is in the fourth … (2) now. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren made her … (3) because they didn’t like school so she decided to show them that … (4) is important.

When she was born they didn’t keep … (5) so we don’t know her exact … (6). She worked as a … (7) for many years, helping women to … (8) babies but she couldn’t go to school because they thought it was a … (9) of time and money to teach women in schools.

She loves her … (10) pupils in the school and even plays with them in … (12) during the … (13). She has her own room in the school in a … (14). The … (15) of the school thinks she ‘s a … (16) pupil. She … (17) in everything, even in PE lessons. Her three grandchildren are also her … (18). She has friendly … (19) with them on who will have the best … (20).

 

Key:

1. elementary school (primary school)

2. grade

3. mad

4. education (going to school)

5. birth records

6. age

7. midwife

8. deliver

9. waste

10. fellow

11. swings

12.break

14. corner

15. principal

16. model

17. participates

18. classmates

19. competitions

20. grades