“Education has no age limit”, Albino Lino, sixty-six-year-old elderly student at Dr. John Gerang Memorial Secondary School in Torit of Eastern Equatoria State advises the general public.
The Senior One student, who sat for his Primary Leaving Certificate exams in Adult Literacy Program last year, shares with Radio Emmanuel what took him back to school.
While attending to his studies during day time, he works during night hours at Caritas Torit as a security guard.
Lino says as an elderly student among young learners, it is challenging, but because he needs to learn he has to get used to the learning environment.
“We went to northern Sudan and I went to school in Arabic, then later we return back to South Sudan things where not easy, communication was difficult then I thought it is better to be a learned person so that one can communicate with people, I think if I don’t go to school I won’t get what is missing in the communication that is why I have to get back to school to add more knowledge, education has no age limit even up to seventy or eighty that is just because I am adding knowledge one day one of the students from my class call me Yabba, his colleague reply no don’t call that you call him student you call that name at home, and I thank him for realising that”, he explains.
Lino says education is very important because it is through education that one is able to build up him or herself.
He advises people not to undermine the power of education; calling on elderly people to join learning to inspire young people in the state and the country.
“When children saw that they have an elder person with them in class, this will encourage them to come to school that is because education is very important like now I told myself it is very important to be close to the children, some of my colleague are now in senior three then I have to say it is better to be close to the children so that they can benefit from you even you as an elder, when you say something and they laugh it is good and that is how we learn from each other and that is the importance of education and that is how they learn administration in the family even in the family.
The elderly student says the school is challenged with lack of infrastructure since classes are few, his class is very congested.
He calls on the government through the Ministry of Education to support schools by constructing more classrooms.
“Teaching is good hundred percent, the only thing is that we are writing on our laps there are no benches, another thing the class is full of noise, we are about ninety something. The teacher could get tired cannot even do correction to the whole class so there is shortage of secondary schools that is why it is very difficult to control learners. Therefore I am calling on the government to add more schools to accommodate this number of students”, he appeals.
Lino also calls on non-governmental organisations to fund schools in the state by constructing more school infrastructure.
“There are people who have money they can support the government like NGOs even they can build schools, what are they doing whenever you are coming for development, you should always develop the area you have settle in not only to feed the people no, There is a say that goes give a hook so you can fish not always feeding me, then when you are gone I will suffer what else should I do that is why I am calling for you to do what people can benefit when you are not there”, he stresses.
Albino Lino, a sixty-six-year-old elderly student at Dr. John Gerang Memorial Secondary School in Torit of Eastern Equatoria State is married with six children, three daughters and three sons.