Benin whiz-kid, 11, passes school-leaver exams, aims to study economics

A Benin academic prodigy, 11-year-old Peace Delaly Nicoue, has passed exams referred to as the baccalaureate and is aiming to continue his studies in an English speaking country.

The boy, whose father is a schoolteacher, is the youngest person to sit the school-leaver exams in the country.

It took the insistence of his father and the intervention of the government to take the exams usually meant for persons aged 18 years and above.

The BBC reports that Peace in an interview expressed happiness and relief at having scored high marks especially in Mathematics because he wanted to study economics.

“When he was four years old he could write in perfect French and English without making mistakes,” his father, Parfait Afoutou Nicoue told the BBC in an interview.

This is not the first time that young Nicoue has achieved such a feat. Two years ago, he sat and passed another key exam known as the Brevet d’Études du Premier Cycle (BEPC).

Could he follow in footsteps of Africa’s youngest PhD holder?

If he enters university at this age, and continues climbing up the academic ladder he could have continental records coming his way – one such could be him becoming Africa’s youngest degree holder.

Then maybe he can aim at records like that of 23-year-old Musawenkosi Saurombe, Africa’s youngest PhD holder.

Musa as she is referred to is Zimbabwean, raised in Botswana and educated in South Africa, she is now a higher education ambassador for Bostwana.

Personal and familial sacrifices counted largely for the academic march that has earned her a doctorate in Industrial Psychology.

And she is the first to admit that it took a lot of psyching to navigate through social pressures and to achieve. ‘If I had listened to what people will say about my age, gender or race, I would not have taken some of the steps that I took.

She entered varsity at the age of 15, at 19 she attained her first degree and moved on to graduate studies. ‘I never thought I will be the youngest woman to have a PhD in Africa. I never thought that at the age of 23, I will have a PhD in industrial psychology,’ she added.

The North-West University, one of South Africa’s largest varsities, became her home. Today the institution shares the light of giving birth to Africa’s youngest PhD holder.