Man, 80, Enters University

MR John Harry Johnson, 80, gave meaning to the saying “Education has no end” when he swore the matriculation oath as a first year distance education student of the University of Cape Coast recently.

Mr Johnson is offering a course leading to a Diploma in Basic Education. “I don't know how long I will live but I believe this course will be very useful for the rest of my years on earth,” Mr Johnson stated. Mr Johnson who holds a postgraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Romania, retired from the teaching profession in 1979.

Since then, he has been teaching street and handicapped children in Cape Coast for free. He has also taught at the Montessori and Albert Sam schools and the Cape Coast School for the Deaf after his retirement. Mr Johnson said the course would help him to update his knowledge in education and enable him teach the younger ones.

“I love teaching, it is my hobby and the only way I can do it effectively is to upgrade myself,” he added. Mr Johnson has seven children, the oldest, Philomena 51 years, being a headmistress of a private school in Accra. Johnny, the youngest, is 40 years. Mr Johnson also has five grandchildren, one of who is a seamstress and another a pastor. “My family is still surprised that I am going back to school,” he added.

But Mr Johnson said the family believes he can do it. He urged young people to take advantage of learning opportunities to upgrade themselves, saying, “You can barely survive in the globalised world without education.”

He also advised the government to use retired teachers capable of rendering effective services to the nation. He also called for the review of the chronological age retirement system in the country saying, “It is not good enough