Sammy Chepsiror, the grandson of Priscilla Sitieni, the world’s oldest primary school pupil, has spoken on the death of the aged learner who died in Kenya on Wednesday at the age of 99.
Chepsiror disclosed that Gogo Priscilla (Granny Priscilla) as fondly called died after experiencing chest complications, The Standard newspaper reports.
“Gogo has been in good health and attending her classes until three days to her demise when she developed chest pains, which forced her out of school.
“We are thankful for the 100 years of her life. She made all of us proud,” he said on Thursday.
The unusual resolve by Priscilla to acquire formal education in her 90s got praise from UNESCO and inspired a French film.
In her interview with UNESCO last year, Priscilla who persuaded the headmaster of the local school in her village in Kenya’s Rift Valley to admit her said she took the step to encourage young mothers in Kenya to return to school after having children.
UNESCO described the pupil who urged mothers not to drop out of school due to the shame of stigma as “a role model for her community and beyond”.
She said: I wanted to show an example not only to them but to other girls around the world who are not in school.
“Without education, there will be no difference between you and a chicken,” she said.
“Education is your future. Education remains in your head forever and you cannot lose it once you have it.”
The aged woman's efforts as a learner were documented in a French film titled “Gogo”.
The documentary aided her meeting with First Lady Brigitte Macron in France.
Patrick Pessis, the co-writer of the film paid tribute to her in a tweet on Thursday.
“Her message about girls’ education lives on,” he tweeted.
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