Cape Town - They were forced to drop out of school as children, but two Cape Town fathers have shown that one is never too old to learn.
Mboniswa Cutshwa, 63, from Gugulethu, had his hopes set on becoming a lawyer, but when his mother died when he was in standard 6 (Grade 8), he was forced to leave school. He later started doing odd jobs.
Last year, the grandfather of three decided to go back to school and enrolled at the St Francis Community Learning Centre.
“I realised it’s not too late to educate yourself. Education is not about building one’s career only, but empowering oneself with knowledge.”
On Tuesday his efforts were acknowledged by the Western Cape Education Department when he received the award for the oldest Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) pupil in the province during the provincial Abet awards.
He passed three subjects in last year’s Abet level 4 (equivalent to Grade 9) exams.
At the same ceremony Zola Vena, 57, a driver from Khayelitsha, received the award for being the oldest pupil to receive his General Education and Training Certificate (Grade 9) in one sitting.
Vena, who attended classes at the Masiyile Community Learning Centre in Khayelitsha, said he was a father of four and had returned to school because he wanted his children to understand the importance of education. He was in Standard 7 when he left school. “My mother was alone and we didn’t have the money for me to continue my education.”
Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said she had been encouraged by the number of adults opting to further their education.
“A total of 5 259 candidates registered for one or more learning areas compared to 4 776 in 2013 and 3 987 in 2012.”
The most popular learning areas were mathematical literacy with 3 820 entries, English with 2 719 and travel and tourism with 2 483 entries.
“Candidates performed exceptionally well in most learning areas and the pass rate of 84.3 percent is significantly better than in the previous two years.”
Cape Argus