Mohammad Barmawi, at 61, graduates from university

AMMAN — A sexagenarian from Jerash graduated from university last month 45 years after he left school. 

Mohammad Barmawi, from the northern town of Burma in Jerash, some 48km north of Amman, now holds a bachelor’s degree in Sharia (Islamic law) with a “very good” grade point average. 

He told The Jordan Times Monday that he would love to pursue his post graduate studies if he obtains a scholarship or a seat at university. 

“My ambition is to complete a master’s degree, but only if I can afford it or get a scholarship, as it would be hard for me to cover expenses,” the 61-year-old said in a phone interview. 

Having graduated last month from Balqa Applied University’s Ajloun branch, Barmawi spoke about how his family and residents of the town supported him.

“My family members are proud of me and the residents see me as a symbol of determination for younger generations,” the father of 11 and grandfather of more than a dozen said.

Barmawi had to leave school in 1970 after finishing the ninth grade to help his father look after the family business in the agriculture sector, “although he was among the top academic achievers at school”.

“My father used to own a nursery to sell plants to Jerash farmers and I had to help him support the family,” he said, adding that he inherited the farm and it is still running. 

The nursery is based Burma, a town with a population of around 20,000 and is located an hour drive from Amman.     

A former mayor of the town, between 1995 and 1999, Barmawi returned to education when he sat for the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) in 2012 and achieved a score of 75.7 per cent. 

He was accepted at university in the field he applied for. 

When he was sitting for the Tawjihi exams, Barmawi lost a 25-year-old son in a traffic accident. 

“I was grief stricken and heartbroken,” Barmawi said, but he added that the death of his son Mahdi could not hold him back from achieving his decades-old dream.    

The sexagenarian said he chose to study Sharia to further educate himself in Islam, adding that currently he works as a mosque preacher during Friday prayers in the town. 

On the motive to pursue a bachelor’s degree, Barmawi said he wanted to keep up with technological trends in Jordan and worldwide. 

“I didn’t want to live the rest of my life as an uneducated person, as education is an important weapon,” he added, noting that education is a top priority in the teachings of Islam. 

“Although I had little hours to study but I promised myself and family to pass Tawjihi and go to university,” Barmawi said, recalling that during his time at university he faced some difficulties balancing between studying and social and family needs. 

Asked if he encountered some odd incidents while at university, he said young students used to think he was a lecturer. 

“They used to call me professor, but then I would tell them: ‘I’m a student just like you’.”

Barmawi said he and his daughter were both studying at university at the same time. 

“The certificate is the best thing that happened to me in my 61 years,” he said, urging young people to be determined as success could never be impossible.