The determination by 57-year-old mother-of-four Elizabeth Yamoah, to get some basic education, drove her to walk three miles to school every day, Mr Samuel Quaye, headteacher of Odoben Presby Basic “A” Junior High School has revealed.

Apart from the long trek, Mr Quaye told CTV’s Anopa Dwabre Mu show on Monday, 21 September 2020 that Madam Yamoah also suffered a lot of abuse and scorn during her three-year education journey at his school.

The oldest JHS graduate in Ghana, who was among hundreds of thousands of pupils who recently sat the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), told Animonyam Okyere that despite her determination to learn, her fellow women in her village “kept scorning and asking me what I was going to school for at my age”.

"It nearly got to me at a point and I almost gave up", Madam Yamoah, who wants to be a nurse some day, said.

“In fact, I stopped schooling for a while because of the scorn but the headteacher intervened and I resumed”, she said.

Mr Quaye noted that “she was very determined”.

“She walked three miles to school every day”, he said.

“She got to school by 6 am before a lot of the young pupils.

“She’s humble and respectful.

“She endured a lot of scorn from pupils who could be her grandchildren but never gave up.

“We chose SHSs near her town so she could continue if she successfully passes her BECE”, the headteacher noted.

CTV celebrated Madam Yamoah for her bravery and resilience and urged her to keep rising in life.

Callers into the show showered praises on her for being so determined in pursuing her education.

Among those in the studio to cut a special cake in Madam Yamoah's honour were her former headteacher, as well as an English teacher of the same school together with Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, a former President of the Ghana Association of Writers and a Consultant in communication.