An 81-year-old granddad says he was “ecstatic” as he opened up his GCSE results on the same day as his 16-year-old granddaughter.
Haji Matin, who lives in Wood Green, decided to sit a GCSE higher maths exam this year to encourage his granddaughter to power through her exams this year.
Natalia Smith, from Crouch End, would often study with her granddad, whose favourite subject was maths, before he decided to sign up for the exam as well “on a whim”.
The GCSE results (Image: Handout)
Her sister Kaya, 21, said that Natalia had “difficulties” keeping up with her study due to interruptions from the pandemic, which is why her grandfather would help her out.
She said: “They’d look through the book together and the content. He’s been retired for a while now and he’s a bit worried about not using his brain enough and wishes to keep himself sharp.”
It involved completing three separate papers.
The structural engineer ended up sitting the exam at the Unique Sixth Form in Edmonton, and thought it was “so funny” being sat in a hall around teenagers.
Kaya said: “We all thought it was a really great thing to do, he’s so keen on maths and learning. It’s been a passion his whole life, education, he spent a lot of money investing in schools in Bangladesh and encouraging engineering and STEM.
“He said when he did his degree they didn’t even have calculators – it was really interesting for him to see how it’s all done now.”
Haji Matin (Image: Handout)
Mr Matin first had a civil engineering degree in Bangladesh and after coming to the UK in 1963 he enrolled at the University of Aston and did another civil engineering course.
During his time in the UK, he worked as an engineer for Transport for London for many years.
After opening his result on Thursday (August 24), he discovered he had achieved a grade 4 – after he kept insisting all he wanted to do was pass.
He said: “I feel ecstatic with my grade. I took the exam as fun juts to sharpen up my memory in order to delay my age-related dementia.
“I feel proud to take this adventure at my age of 81 with my 16-year-old youngest granddaughter.
“It was great fun while taking the exam with the big hall full of 16 or 17-year-old students.”
Natalia, who is also celebrating her results, said: “I was excited to be able to go through the process with him.
“It was a very heartwarming sentiment and interesting to see how different techniques are now versus when he sat his exams.”
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