Rabat – More than four decades after missing her chance to sit for the baccalaureate exams, Fouzia Daghmoumi is finally taking her place in the examination halls. 

The retired former Ministry of Health official has become the oldest candidate in the Tangier region this year, turning her long-delayed academic ambition into a powerful story of perseverance and lifelong learning.

Inside the examination rooms of Moulay Slimane High School for traditional education in Tangier, Daghmoumi has drawn widespread attention among students and teachers alike. 

Now in her sixties, she returned to school four years after retirement, determined to complete a chapter of her life that remained unfinished for more than 40 years.

Previously head of the pediatrics department at Mohammed V Hospital, Daghmoumi says her decision stems from a deep passion for education and a belief that retirement should never mark the end of intellectual ambition.

Speaking to local media outlet Le360, she explained that obtaining the baccalaureate is not simply a personal achievement, but the beginning of a larger academic journey. She hopes to continue her higher education studies in fields such as law or Islamic studies.

Daghmoumi, who also speaks fluent Spanish and previously received a royal distinction for her professional contributions, emphasized that age has never stood in the way of her desire to learn.

She revealed that she was originally supposed to take the literature-section baccalaureate exams in 1984 but was unable to do so because of personal circumstances. 

More than 42 years later, she has returned with the same determination, this time enrolled in the Islamic sciences stream.

Her journey has become even more meaningful because she is not facing the challenge alone. 

Daghmoumi is preparing for and sitting the exams alongside her son, who is also a baccalaureate candidate this year despite working full-time as an executive in a private company in Tangier.

She also used the occasion to encourage women of her generation to step out of isolation and invest in learning and personal growth.

“Knowledge is a source of countless benefits. Through it, minds flourish, souls rise, and life opens up again,”she said, adding that it is never too late to restart abandoned dreams when the determination to succeed remains alive.