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bdullah Sani was a teenager a long time ago, but he still felt the familiar fluttering and tingling in his stomach when he was about to take the national examination on Monday.

'€œI'€™m so nervous,'€ said the 69-year-old grandfather of three.

Sani left his home on Jl. Haji Iming in Beji subdistrict, Depok, on a public minivan to go to Al Muhajirin school downtown on Jl. Nusantara where he and hundreds of other participants took the equivalence test to complete their high school certificates.

Sani, who already graduated from high school in Aceh in 1964, had to take the exam to achieve his dream of going on to higher education.

'€œI lost my high school diploma, It'€™s a big problem because it'€™s the main requirement in applying for college. I want to get a degree,'€ he said.

Sani, who is a security guard, works as an instructor at a security guard training center in Jakarta.

'€œI'€™ve been mocked by people from work because I'€™m the only teacher without a university degree,'€ he said.

While he might have been embarrassed by his educational background, Sani wasn'€™t ashamed at all to be among all the younger people taking the test and raised his hand many times to ask the supervisors how to fill out the answer form.

'€œI don'€™t want to make any mistakes,'€ he said.

He had taken the Kejar Paket C program, informal schooling at the Wiraguna education center in Beji, to prepare for the exam. He said he could still remember some of the lessons from his old school days, but forgot most of them.

'€œI don'€™t really push myself to study hard, but I read the books whenever I got the time. The books make it easy for me to understand the subjects because there are graphics and pictures on them. I'€™m only worried about math.'€

A similar spirit can be felt from Jumah, 50, a janitor at public elementary school SD Negeri RRI Depok, who traveled 30 kilometers by motorcycle from his home in Tapos to Al Muhajirin school compound for the test.

He said he had prepared for three months for the exam. He wants the diploma because he wants a better pension plan which he can only do if he raises his grade as a civil servant.

'€œI am currently a grade 2D civil servant. An official at the district administration office said I need to get a high school diploma to be able to be raised to grade 3,'€ said Jumah, who has been a janitor for 30 years.

He was the oldest in his preparation class at Bina Sukma education center, which was filled with teenagers and young adults.

'€œI don'€™t mind studying with them,'€ said Jumah, a junior high school graduate in 1978.

'€œI couldn'€™t study at home because none of my children could help me with the subjects. They said the subjects I take are too difficult for them,'€ he said.

Jumah was optimistic he would pass the test.

'€œThe test is multiple choice. It'€™s much easier than the essay tests in my school days.'€

Head of the informal and non-formal education unit at the Depok Education Agency, Khaerudin, said that 10 out of 1,824 participants for the equivalence test are above 50 years old.

'€œWe don'€™t give them any special treatment. They have to find the location and their seats on their own, they have to dress appropriately and abide by all regulations set by the exam committee,'€ he said.