“I am going to do this for myself,” says 79-year-old Lindele Malgas, a pupil at Isibane Adult Basic Education and Training Centre.
|||Lindele Malgas flashed a toothless smile as fellow pupils at Sophakama Primary School gathered around him trying to fathom what he had done to deserve a visit from Education MEC Donald Grant on Wednesday.
It’s the fact that he’s 79.
Malgas, of Dunoon, has been a student at the Isibane Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) Centre based at the primary school for the past three years.
Last year he passed English and life orientation at Level 4, earning an award for the oldest pupil to complete the Abet Level 4 examination in 2011.
The centre’s manager, Simbongile Mvinjelwa, said a Level 4 achievement was the equivalent of passing Grade 9.
A beaming Malgas said: “I dropped out of school in Standard 7 (Grade 9) because I was unhappy. It wasn’t easy to attend school in my day. I worked as a caretaker of flats and a factory.
“But there remained a lot of things in this life and on this Earth that I wanted to know and learn about. Now I know you are never too old to learn.”
Malgas said he failed two subjects last year, but, despite a slightly bent back and being deaf in his left ear, he would not back down. “I am going to carry on. I am going to do this for myself. This year, I am going to do English, maths literacy and tourism. I love doing maths, but my most favourite thing to do at school is learning new words and their meanings,” he said.
Malgas’s classmate and “best friend”, Aphiwe Kutuka, 18, said he had dropped out of primary school and sold fruit. Later he realised if he was going to forfeit his education, he would not get far in life.
“I like being here, I like learning. I do tourism, English and maths… I have found a friend in Mr Malgas. I help him along with the things he struggles with, but he is quite good at maths,” said Aphiwe.
The Abet Centre started in 1997 and it now accommodates almost 300 students taught by qualified teachers from 6pm to 9pm every evening.
The Western Cape Education Department hosted the annual award ceremony at Gardens Commercial High School on Wednesday night where students, including Malgas, received certificates for completing the Abet Level 4 curriculum in 2011. - Cape Times
lauren.isaacs@inl.co.za