In the News

Aged alumni finally to get elementary diplomas

• Publication Date：05/07/2010
• Source： Liberty Times

A handful of elderly gentleman who attended the old Suehiro Elementary School in Tainan during the period of Japanese occupation returned to their alma mater May 5 to complete arrangements to receive their diplomas.

Because of the chaos of wartime, the men had never received their diplomas, but they were back at the school, now known as Jinsyue Elementary School, with principal Ke Ching-chun, planting a memorial madras thorn tree. The school had also arranged a couple of challenges to get them back into the spirit of their old student days, including a swimming certification test.

Huang Ping-kun and Wang Chuo-ming, of the school's 21st graduating class, managed to contact over 30 classmates, and 15 of them attended the day’s “examinations.” The group of septuagenarians had a great time recalling their school days and sighing about how far off the past had become.

A teacher from the old days, octogenarian Cheng Liang-yao, was on hand as well. Although he had not taught that particular class of children, he was the one who returned to the school during an air raid to retrieve important papers, including the records for this class. Unfortunately, although he saved the materials, they have subsequently been lost.

Among the members of Huang and Wang's class are men who have earned doctoral degrees, but still do not have their elementary school diplomas in hand. The "students" returning to school for the "examinations" paid careful attention to the lectures given by today's elementary school students, just as though they had been magically transported back to their own school days, and showed great interest in the contents. The men said they concentrated on natural sciences in their own school days, learning about landscaping and things related to the land.

Six of the returnees braved the pool to earn their swimming certification. Despite their advanced ages, they are still hale and hearty, and every one of them passed the test. Principal Ke said the men will be invited to participate in the school's graduation ceremony this year along with the younger students, and will be presented with their diplomas and the certificates they earned during this event.

(This article originally appeared in The Liberty Times May 6.)