Asylum-seeker pupil who joined school as 15-year-old but ‘looks 40’ stays in class but ‘not taught with other students’
A SCHOOL pupil who joined a Coventry school claiming to be a 15-year-old boy as parents feared he 'looked like a 40-year-old' is now being taught apart from other pupils.
Parents at the school in Coventry raised concerns after the asylum-seeker student - who appeared to be a balding, adult male - joined the school in October.
The Home Office launched an 'urgent investigation' into the matter, despite school bosses reassuring parents that proper checks had been carried out.
The pupil is said to have not returned to classes alongside other pupils after October half-term, but school bosses confirmed he is still enrolled at the school.
A Coventry City Council spokesperson said: "We can confirm the child in question is still enrolled at the school."
Parents say they have not been updated over the Home Office investigation and left to hear from children that the student is no longer attending regular classes.
One parent said: "The children say he vanished from lessons after half-term and that he's now being taught in isolation.
"There's been a real lack of trust in telling parents what was going on.
"When we raised concerns we were told it was inappropriate to question his age and that kids had been bullying him by sharing his photograph.
"As parents we still believe our concerns were legitimate, they announced there would be an investigation, but no-one has stepped forward to tell us as adults what the conclusion is."
Photos of the student, an asylum seeker understood to be from Gambia, West Africa, were posted on Facebook after one schoolgirl shared the images in a private Snapchat questioning his age.
The girl's mum said she was then called into school to discuss the issue with teachers and that they were concerned sharing photos of the new classmate amounted to bullying.
She said: "I said, 'You can't really blame the children [for talking about it] - he looks about 40'.
"They sort of nodded and said, 'Yes - we did have concerns but we’ve been told that he is in fact Year 11 age'."
Coventry City Council was forced to send a letter to parents after the pupil took his place in classes.
Sarah Mills, head of education entitlement at Coventry City Council, said in the open letter: "When pupils arrive in England and present an application for a school place, we - local authorities and schools - are obliged to process these applications.
"If there are concerns or doubts regarding a pupil’s age at the time of application, schools and local authorities are able to ask for further evidence in the form of birth certificates and passports.
"However, please note, on some rare occasions if pupils arrive as asylum seekers and alone, i.e. without parents, these may not always be available.
"I am able to confirm [the school] follows all of these procedures and always seeks the city council's support in such matters.
A school spokesperson later told The Sun they had been able to verify the student's age - but couldn't reveal how.
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It comes two years after a schoolboy in Ipswich, who said he was 15 but was accused by classmates of being a 30-year-old man, was found to be an adult.
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
