Oldest primary school student is 92

She grew up in Kenya under colonial rule, when women didn't get an education.

Now in her 90s, Priscilla Sitienei is changing that, attending elementary school -- and inspiring a generation.

She started five years ago as a kindergartner at a boarding school near Eldoret. She's in fourth grade today.

"I had grandchildren and great-grandchildren who shunned school," she says by phone from Ndalat. "That made me mad. I decided I have to show them that education is important."

During colonial times, some Kenyan hospitals did not keep birth records. Sitienei's exact age is unclear, but she says she was born around 1923, when a famine plagued her hometown. Growing up, relatives told her she barely survived that famine as a toddler, which gave her a rough estimate of her birth year.

Priscilla Sitienei has her own special dorm room at the boarding school in Eldoret. Outside her door is a sign that says "education has no age limit."

If confirmed by the Guinness World Records, she would be the oldest pupil in elementary school.

The last such honor by the Guinness World Records went to another Kenyan, Kimani Maruge, who in 2004 was named the oldest person to begin primary school. Five years later, he died at age 90.

Though Sitienei worked as a traditional midwife for decades, she says there's still a lot to learn.

"My favorite subject is math," the nonagenarian says. "Now that I'm in school, I know the right dosage to give the women who I help deliver their babies."

Sitienei got married at a young age and focused on raising her 10 children.