Grandad, 73, goes back to school to get his matric

Bonginkosi Ngcobo had to drop out of school many years ago because times were tough. Now he is full of vigour as he tackles Grade 12.

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Durban - A Durban grandfather, who recently enrolled in college to complete his matric, has a distinctly old-school message to youngsters: pull up your socks and behave in class.

Jerome Bonginkosi Ngcobo, 73, of Umbilo, had to drop out of school many years ago because times were tough.

Now he is full of vigour as he tackles Grade 12.

His return to class was sparked by a conversation with his granddaughter, Silindile Kumalo, a teacher at Ridge Park College.

Out of curiosity, Kumalo asked him what he had aspired to become when he was young. Ngcobo replied: “a lecturer”.

Kumalo then asked what had stopped him.

“It was a heart-wrenching tale of his life story. The thought of him not completing school stuck in my mind. A few weeks later, I encouraged him to go back to school. The reaction and his body language suggested he was enthusiastic about it,” Kumalo said.

She searched for a school and enrolled him for Saturday matric classes at Anchorlite College in Joe Slove (Field) Street, Durban.

The course runs from this month through to May.

Ngcobo attended Ngcukwini (in Ndwedwe) and Nyuswa Primary (in Botha’s Hill) schools and completed Standard 6.

His parents had 10 children and his father died when Ngcobo was young.

His mother was unemployed so he had to find work.

He worked as a gardener at an early age, then in a cotton-making factory in Ndwedwe, and as a petrol attendant and a supervisor at a garage in Pinetown.

In Hammarsdale he worked as an assistant dispatch clerk and at furniture retailer Ellerines as a team supervisor. He was transferred to the Durban branch as a sales adviser.

In 1996, his wife, Phumzile, suffered a paralysing stroke.

“I could not let nurses or my children look after Phumzile. I felt that I had to shoulder the responsibility. I did everything for her. I would feed her and rush back to work. It took a toll on me and my sales figures dropped. I resigned in 1999 to take care of her.”

She died in 2013. They had seven children (one boy, six girls) and have 13 grandchildren.

“Phumzile and I enrolled ourselves at the Adult Education Centre in Hammarsdale in 1958. We wanted to improve ourselves and get better jobs. We reached Standard 8.

“Financial problems stopped us from going any further. I was anxious to be a lecturer or teacher. It was always in the back of my mind. A dream I thought I would not accomplish,” Ngcobo said.

He is determined to pass his subjects, which include geography, English, business studies, religious studies, Zulu and maths.

Thus far he has enjoyed the two lessons he has attended.

Ngcobo encouraged young people who have the means and family support to complete their studies.

“There are those who don’t have the money and parents to help them.

“They are anxious and hungry for education.

“The youth of today must pull up their socks, listen to the teacher and behave in class. Education is very important. Even I am aspiring to learn more,” he said.

Kumalo said that before enrolling, Ngcobo had been having dreams that he was sitting in front of a chalkboard, something he did not think would become reality.

He is also a pastor at the Pentecostal Holiness church in Steel Road, Morningside.

“He wants to be ahead. He is really excited. He keeps asking me for textbooks.

“I went up in front of the church congregation and made the announcement. He was overwhelmed with emotion. People clapped and congratulated him,” she said.

“I trust in God that he will help me and not let me forget what I learnt,” he said.

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