An Italian woman who had been deprived of formal education because of World War II has returned to class at the age of 90 to study for her school diploma.
Annunjiata Murgia is the oldest person ever to have attended the lessons of licenza mediaor Middle School Diploma, a test usually taken by children in lower secondary education at the age of 14. She does this at an evening school close to her home in Dolianova, Sardinia.
“I like to read, I’ve always loved it,” she told Il Messagero. “But when the war broke out, everything changed for me. I had to go and work because my family was struggling and I had to play my part. Once upon a time, only those who had money could study.
Chicken said she learned to sew when she was a child and became a seamstress. But she read a lot of books, and therefore “studied alone whenever I could”.
Her passions are history and music. “I’ve always loved history books, also because I’ve experienced a good portion of history written in books – I’ve seen the results of World War I and lived through the second.”
Chicken’s youngest classmate is 16, a student who will re-diploma as Chicken makes her first attempt in June. Passing exams, which include tests in Italian literacy and mathematics, are required to be able to progress to higher secondary education, which ends at 18 in Italy.
Marina Pilia, a literature teacher at the school, described Murgia as a very passionate and busy student.
“Although she has some hearing difficulties, and was not in the best form due to a fall yesterday, she actively attends classes, especially history,” Pilia said.
The school primarily caters for adult education, and those aged 16–20 are required to retake school exams. The average age of students in Chicken’s class is over 40, some of whom are also preparing for middle school diplomas.
Pilia said, “It is often women who supplement their education after having children, or people who have never received a diploma and need it for work, because it is the minimum education requirement.” “
The last person to appear for the exam in 2016 in the age group of Chicken was an 87-year-old woman. Murgia said her teachers are “superb” and classmates are “like my grandsons”.
“Some go home with me in the evening, when it’s dark,” she said. And he is ready for the exam. “I’ll give it my all.”