At 13, physics student is comfortable among his (older) peers

At a time when most of his peers are struggling to get into junior high or senior high school, 13-year-old Melchizedek Adio Baafawiise has become one of the youngest undergraduates to be admitted to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana, where he studies physics.

A very confident Baafawiise does not find it daunting to be in class with students who are older than he is – some, perhaps, even twice his age. “I am not intimidated, because I see all of them as my classmates. That’s just how I see them,” he told University World News.

He skipped a basic education grade, and another after only one year of junior high school (which stretches over three years in Ghana) to enrol in St Cyprian Minor Seminary SHS in Sawla in the Savannah Region.

Intelligence quickly clear

His father, Robert Baafawiise Tawiah, teaches economics at the Bole Senior High School, also in the Savannah region. Tawiah said that, as a qualified teacher, he had noticed that Melchizedek was an exceptional child very early in his life. “Immediately after he was weaned, at about two years old, we sent him to school. Even at this stage, he dominated his class, and it was clear that he was good,” he said.

When asked whether he had to push his son, Tawiah said: “Not really. When you are properly skilled in teaching, you do not push the child; you move at the child’s pace and encourage him.”

He said he does not miss his son being away from him because he is always on the phone talking to him. Besides, the child was also the youngest in his class in senior high school and is just as comfortable in his new environment as he was then, always keeping his father informed about his progress.

Seeking career opportunities

The young Baafawiise obtained the highest grade in five subjects in the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) – including physics and mathematics. Passing the WASSCE was his passport to university.

Baafawiise said he once wanted to become a pilot, but after talking to his father, he realised that it was not a career path with many opportunities, and so he changed his mind and studied physics.

He said he is coping well in class because he sees the experience as not much different from what he has experienced in the past. “This is not my first time in a large institution, so it’s just like a normal thing to me.”

He disagrees with those who think he is too young to be a university student. “Once they admit you, you shouldn’t see yourself as too young.”

A normal childhood

Baafawiise described his life as “normal” because he was not always studying. “Sometimes, I played games on the phone. Sometimes, I just went outside to get some fresh air, and that’s all,” he said, adding: “In school, I was mostly ahead of the teacher.”

He paid tribute to his parents who did not push him to study, because he passed his examinations without any effort. “They gave me advice, supported me financially, and in every way I could think of,” he said. “My father gave me a lot of information on physics, and I decided to go into that field because it has a lot of job opportunities. You can go into different fields, like electrical engineering, computer, or mechanical engineering. You can go on to study aerospace,” he said.

Robert Kwame Nkum, a professor in the physics department who has become a mentor to the young man, said the teenager is well prepared for the programme and doing quite well since his arrival on campus.

“I talk with him most of the time and am sure he’s prepared for the course. He’s not worried about the teachers,” Nkum said.

Fearless and confident

Christiana Subaar, a department lecturer who has become like a mother to Baafawiise, said the university application forms do not tell you much about the student until you see them when they arrive.

“Looking at his age, he is a special chap. For this reason, we need to have people to mentor him. We need to have a father and a mother for him academically, so, when he was assigned to me, the first thing was to find out who is taking him to the laboratory so, I set out to know the teaching assistants assigned to him so I could find out firsthand how he is performing,” Subaar said.

“He sees everybody as either a roommate, classmate, or schoolmate. He’s good to go. He needs to be guided, at least in academics.”

Before he arrived at the university, Baafawiise’s parents had arranged with his uncle, Warrant Officer Lukman Kaba of the Ghana Armed Forces based in Kumasi, to keep an eye on him because he is so young. “So far … he is coping fine and engaging with all those around him without showing any fear,” Kaba said.

More youngsters left the nest

Baafawiise is the third youngster in recent years to enter university well before his peers will.

A similar situation unfolded in Egypt in 2023 when 12-year-old primary school student, Yahya Abdel Nasser Muhammad Elnajaar, skipped high school after meeting the entrance requirements of Egypt’s Zewail City of Science and Technology (ZC).

At the time, Elnajaar was in grade six in the official language school in the Damietta Governorate in the far north-east of Egypt. Mohamed Ayman Ashour, Egypt’s minister of higher education and scientific research, announced Elnajaar’s admission to ZC in December 2023. He started his studies in the second semester of the 2023-24 academic year.

To gain admission, Elnajaar had to prove his understanding of basic concepts in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, and he had to pass an English test and an interview to judge his character.

In 2021, 14-year-old Zimbabwean Taida Mapara was admitted to study medicine at the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine in Blantyre but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to delay her studies until she had turned 16.

Her fast-tracked journey started thanks to education authorities in Zimbabwe and Ghana, who allowed her to skip several grades. At times, she was also home-schooled. She completed the primary and secondary school levels in eight years instead of the usual 13.