Watch: At 110, Saudi woman pursues literacy

Cairo: A 110-year-old Saudi woman is happy about attending a literacy course, saying one’s age is just a number.

Nuda Al Qahtani, a resident of Bisha in the Asir region in southern Saudi Arabia, has not been stopped by her old age from attending the summer literacy course, local education authorities have said.

“Devoted efforts have borne fruit,” the Bisha Education Directorate said.

The education authorities posted a video of the woman showing her writing and expressing appreciation for anti-illiteracy efforts. “My mother has been registered this summer at a learning course,” her son Mohammed Mesfr said.

“She feels happy for getting the chance. She has seized it to learn about her religion matters and shared with her old colleagues the pleasure of learning,” he told Al Arabiya.

“She returns from the course feeling happy. She writes and reads the Quran,” her son added.

Saudi media recently carried stories of people including women resuming their studies in the kingdom after a long absence and doing well.

In June, a social media video showed a woman and her daughter graduating from the same university in central Saudi Arabia on the same day.

The footage showed the woman and her daughter wearing the graduation gowns at the Qassim University.

Al Arabiya TV also reported that a Saudi woman aged 70 had obtained a BA degree in sociology with honours.

The woman, identified as Salwa Al Omani, had returned to studies after a 46-year hiatus and graduated from the Iman Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University based in the eastern city of Dammam.

“The moment of my graduation and getting honoured on the stage of the university is impressive and memorable because I had waited for it for 46 years,” Salwa said.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has vigorously launched a drive to empower women in different walks of life as part of dramatic changes in the kingdom.