SENIORS GRADUATE MIDDLE SCHOOL

[Anchor Lead]

It’s the graduation season in Korea ahead of a new school year. One graduation in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do was especially meaningful. Students with an average age of over 78 received their middle school diplomas at last.

[Pkg]

Students wearing mortarboards, sitting at their desks listen carefully to their teacher give a speech. Their faces may be hidden behind the masks, but beyond their wrinkled eyes, you can see an emotionally-charged sense of bittersweet goodbye as they graduate. This is a middle school graduation for a group of elderly women whose average age amounts to 78.7. A student well over 90, seen in a graduation gown, is grateful to her teacher.

[Soundbite] Kwon Oh-chul(93-year-old Graduate) : "Math was the hardest. But I was able to understand it because my teachers taught it well."

Another graduate nearing 80 didn’t give up neither her job nor her studies. She's not done either. Her dream now is to go to high school and then on to college.

[Soundbite] Jeong Jeong-rye(79-year-old Graduate) : "I woke up early to take a patient to the hospital and then studied at the school. And then I went back to pick up the patient again."

Her granddaughter who also graduated from middle school not long ago is overwhelmed with emotions.

[Soundbite] Jo Seong-eun(Jeong Jeong-rye’s granddaughter) : "I wanted to slack off sometimes but I didn’t give up. Because I wanted to study together with my grandmother."

Neulpureun School in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province started as a literacy school but now has become an accredited institution. Over the past five years, twenty-nine elderly students received their elementary and middle school diplomas.

[Soundbite] Jo Jong-mi(Middle school teacher) : "Elderly students say they were happy to learn from us, but we felt unrivaled happiness seeing them study hard."

Neither COVID-19 nor old age could deter their fervent desire to learn.