Sana’a: A Yemeni mother in her thirties shrugged off the shame of being uneducated by going back to school even if that meant studying with her daughters in the same classroom.
The government-run Al Thawra daily reported on Saturday that a mother of five went against the flow and joined Sam Bin Noah primary school in Sana’a province. When the newspaper asked Aziza Mohammad Al Hanouma why she became a student after a long break, she answered: “When I was unlettered, I always felt embarrassed as my kids ask me for help with their homework.”
In a conservative society where many girls end up abandoning education at early stages, Al Hanouma said that she is indebted to her educated husband, Ahmad, who works as a physician at Al Thawra hospital in the capital.
The mother said that she is determined to finish primary and secondary stages and join college.
The school’s headmistress, said that she has never met a mother student with her children throughout her 23 year old career. The mother’s children said that their mother’s education boosted their confidence.
The mother told the paper that she agreed to make her story public to encourage other women in Yemen to follow suit. Official statistics put the rate of illiterate women at 60 per cent in the last couple of years especially in the country’s rural area.
Early marriage is among many obstacles that prevents girls in Yemen from continuing their education.
