Never Too Late: Rijeka Man Completes Primary School in His 30’s

The old saying ‘its never too late’ certainly rings true for one 35-year-old in the city of Rijeka in Croatia. Princ Miftaraj has just completed primary school and is set to begin secondary school, more than 20 years after leaving school.

“When I was 12 I left school and nobody could force me into going back to school.  My parents were very disappointed but I did not want to listen to anyone. Later I realised that I was wrong,” Miftaraj told daily Novi list.

The adult literacy program through the National College each year has around fifty students, mostly those who have decided that they want to complete their high school education after years away from school. Miftaraj had been contemplating a return to school for a while and decided to take the plunge 3 years ago – a decision he says he has not regretted.

“I was not aware that school could only help me in life and without it I could not prosper. In two years I have finished 4 grades of primary school which I was missing and now I am going on. I have enrolled into secondary school and it is going good,” said Miftaraj, who says he could have done it sooner but that it is never too late. Miftaraj’s, whose parents are Roma and moved to Rijeka in 1969, says he hopes to one day be a manager.