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Asylum seeker student who worried about parents complained that he ‘looks to be 40 years old’ is ‘photographed’ after he joined the school in Coventry as a teenage student
- Photographs appear that aim to show the student following the students’ concerns
- He is believed to be an asylum seeker from West Africa who joined the Coventry school.
- Girl shared pictures of him on Snapchat that have now been put on Facebook
- Later, they called their mother at school to discuss concerns that it was ‘bullying’
A schoolboy who is said to have recently moved to Britain from West Africa looks more like a 40-year-old man and has a receding hairline, the parents claimed today.
Photographs have emerged purporting to show the asylum-seeking student, following concerns raised by his peers after he joined a school in Coventry.
The city council had to write to the parents to reassure them about the situation, and the school said it was able to verify the student’s age, but did not explain how.
The images were posted on Facebook after a concerned schoolgirl shared them in a private Snapchat message amid questions about her age, The Sun reported.
They then called the girl’s mother at school to discuss the issue with teachers, who expressed concern that sharing the photos could amount to bullying.
Photographs purporting to show the asylum-seeking student have emerged, following concerns raised by his peers after he joined a school in Coventry.
She told The Sun: ‘I said,’ You really can’t blame the kids [for talking about it] – It looks like 40 ‘. They kind of nodded and said, ‘Yes, we had concerns, but they told us that he’s actually 11 years old.
“ I felt a bit upset that the school was trying to close my daughter. I said, ‘I’m in favor of promoting freedom of expression and I don’t agree that it was bullying as such.’
She added: ‘The school has said that it is inappropriate for us to question her age. There is absolutely no way this kid looks like 15. He looks like 40 to me.
Another parent told Metro: ‘Students would come home saying there was a man in our class, some even saying they thought he might be up to 40 years old.
The schoolboy who recently moved to Britain from West Africa looks more like a 40-year-old man and has a receding hairline, parents said today.
“ He has very thin hair and apparently does not have a birth certificate or passport. He may be the right age, he may not. Either way, parents would like some clarity.
The student is believed to have traveled to the UK without a birth certificate or passport, before being placed in a nameless school.
In a letter, the Coventry City Council assured parents that it conducted all necessary checks for the new student.
He added that local authorities are obliged to process school applications for migrant children arriving in England, and concerns about a pupil’s age are often cleared up by requesting a birth certificate or passport.
The Coventry City Council (based in the Council House in the city, pictured) assured parents that all necessary checks were carried out for the new student.
The letter adds: “On rare occasions, if students arrive alone and seeking asylum, that is, without parents, they may not always be available.”
The school said it followed the guidance of the Department of Education and carried out the correct procedures when identifying the children included in the school record.
Asylum seekers have posed as children before. In 2018, an investigation revealed that an Iranian migrant posed as a 15-year-old GCSE student, but told his classmates that he was 25.
The 6-foot-1-inch man, who came to Britain under the name Siavash, spent six weeks as a Year 11 student at Stoke High School in Ipswich, Suffolk.
They only took him out of class when the students got angry and the parents threatened to boycott them. An official investigation concluded that he was almost certainly over 18 years old.
