There is no age for learning!
29 Oct 2012 12:25 AM GMT
At 77 years of age, this candidate appeared for MPhil/ PhD entrance examination at Indira Gandhi National Open University headquarters.
Binay Kumar has come from Patna to take the test. He has already successfully completed post graduation in distance education (PGDDE) and master of arts in distance education (MADE) from IGNOU.
Kumar was not alone at the examination centre. As many as 10 more aspirants in 55-65 years’ age group turned up to take the examination this year. Kumar was eldest among all of them.
1963 born, Kumar spent more than 30 years of his life in a government job and retired from the service in 1994. He worked as a research officer (Statistics) in the department of Animal Husbandry, government of Bihar.
When he was asked about the motivating factors, he replied, ‘I had attended 13th conference of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) held in Delhi in 1994 as a common participant. The theme of the conference was Structure and Management of Open Learning System. After attending the deliberations, I realised the theme of the conference was similar to my spiritual organisation, which focuses on better life and education for all. At the same conference, I decided to pursue higher education, which is the best mode to provide education to all sections of the society at affordable cost.’
‘I want to study further because it helps in maintain regularity and discipline in daily life. Apart from this, I believe in life-long learning process,’ added Kumar.
This ambitious person lives in Krishna Nagar locality in Patna, and has four sons and two daughters.
One of the sons is a doctor, another lawyer, third one is working with the Punjab National Bank while the fourth is settled in Canada. Both daughters are post graduate, teaching in government schools.
Binay Kumar has come from Patna to take the test. He has already successfully completed post graduation in distance education (PGDDE) and master of arts in distance education (MADE) from IGNOU.
Kumar was not alone at the examination centre. As many as 10 more aspirants in 55-65 years’ age group turned up to take the examination this year. Kumar was eldest among all of them.
1963 born, Kumar spent more than 30 years of his life in a government job and retired from the service in 1994. He worked as a research officer (Statistics) in the department of Animal Husbandry, government of Bihar.
When he was asked about the motivating factors, he replied, ‘I had attended 13th conference of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) held in Delhi in 1994 as a common participant. The theme of the conference was Structure and Management of Open Learning System. After attending the deliberations, I realised the theme of the conference was similar to my spiritual organisation, which focuses on better life and education for all. At the same conference, I decided to pursue higher education, which is the best mode to provide education to all sections of the society at affordable cost.’
‘I want to study further because it helps in maintain regularity and discipline in daily life. Apart from this, I believe in life-long learning process,’ added Kumar.
This ambitious person lives in Krishna Nagar locality in Patna, and has four sons and two daughters.
One of the sons is a doctor, another lawyer, third one is working with the Punjab National Bank while the fourth is settled in Canada. Both daughters are post graduate, teaching in government schools.
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