GEORGE TOWN: Old age has not deterred a mother of seven from pursuing higher studies, a wish she put on hold four decades ago.
Norhayati Sidikah Abu Bakar, 60, who stopped her diploma in accountancy studies at Universiti Teknologi Mara in 1979 to be married and accompany her husband to the United Kingdom, felt this yearning all the more last year when she attended the convocation of her sixth child at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
“I got to thinking ... wouldn’t it be nice if I could study again and experience my own convocation,“ she said, adding that it was this experience that spurred her to enrol for a distance learning bachelor’s degree programme in social science at USM.
Norhayati Sidikah was met at a welcome ceremony here today, organised by the university for students attending its distance learning undergraduate degree programmes for the 2019/2020 academic year.
She is one of 977 students comprising 524 men and 453 women who have enrolled for the programmes with the university’s distance learning centre.
Also met there was Rosezan Mohamed Isa, 53, a social officer at Institut Jantung Negara, who is taking up the same social science degree programme as he hopes to become involved in non-governmental organisation (NGO) work when retirement approaches. — Bernama
