{
  "id": 8284269,
  "title": "How a Grade 9 dropout went on to earn a PhD in Crop Science at UKZN",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/how-a-grade-9-dropout-went-on-to-earn-a-phd-in-crop-science-at-ukzn",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-18T17:48:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-09-18-how-a-grade-9-dropout-went-on-to-earn-a-phd-in-crop-science-at-ukzn/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "After leaving school in Grade 9, Lusanda Ncisana returned to education, overcame funding and personal setbacks, and earned a PhD in Crop Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}