Yahoo News Schoolboy, 16, from East End council estate wins £76,000 scholarship to Eton
A schoolboy who lives in a council house in the East End of London has won a £76,000 scholarship to Eton College.
Hasan Patel, 16, from Leyton, will be going to Prince William and Prince Harry’s old school next September.
Hasan became the youngest ever speaker at a party conference when he addressed Labour delegates last August, and already has more than 21,000 followers on Twitter.
The state school student will rub shoulders with the elite when he joins the world-famous Berkshire school.
The rising political star, who currently studies at George Mitchell School in Leyton, will enter the sixth from to study A-Levels in four subjects: history, geography, politics and drama & theatre studies.
He currently lives in a two-bedroom council flat with his father Abdul, 69, mother Aysha, 49, and two brothers Yusuf, 17, and Adam, 21.
I’ve got a scholarship to Eton College for sixth form. I know you may be thinking – “a Corbynista going to private school, hypocrite!” This is an opportunity I cannot refuse and it won’t mean my politics will change. I’ll still be the same kid fighting for social justice.
— Hasan Patel🌹 (@CorbynistaTeen) January 21, 2019
He won his place at Eton after coming through a gruelling three-day assessment which included three entrance exams, seven interviews and a group interview.
Speaking of his future at Eton, he said: “I am very much there to provoke lively debate.
“I am a boy from a Leyton council estate who receives free school meals. My parents are on welfare and I share a room with my brothers.
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“My dad was very smart and politically engaged but lived in abject poverty in India.
“The students at Eton are from the most privileged corners of society, we could not be any more different.
“My views may be different to them because my life experiences are very different. I think that is what impressed Eton, they wanted someone who could offer a different perspective.
“Eton is a place where they encourage debate, I genuinely believe I can offer something to the school.
“My politics won’t change because I am entering a different type of environment.
“I may be attending Eton but I will still be the same boy from East London when I arrive and when I leave.I am not joining the elite but simply benefiting from the education my family would never in a million years be able to afford.
“This opportunity will allow me to return to my community better armed to tackle the many social problems we face.”
Hasan was mentored throughout the application process by his school’s headteacher, Saeed Hussain.
He said: “Hasan is a truly exceptional young man. Aside from being incredibly bright he is one of the most engaged and motivated students I have known in my years of teaching.
“He is the type of person who will seize this opportunity generously offered by Eton. His is a name I expect we will all be hearing more of in the near future.”
I’ll still be the same boy from East London when I arrive and when I leave. I’m not joining the elite but simply getting an education my family would never be able to afford, paid by the college. I’ll return to my community better armed to tackle the many injustices we face.
— Hasan Patel🌹 (@CorbynistaTeen) January 21, 2019
Hasan’s father Adbul left India in the early 1970s to build a better life for himself and his family. His mother moved to the UK in the mid-1990s.
His father said: “I never thought when I left India in 1972 that my son would end up going to the same school that the English royalty have been to.
“All of his family are so incredibly proud of him and what he has achieved. We will miss him when he goes to Eton but going to this school will make a big difference to his future.
“We want him to go to Oxford or Cambridge. Being at Eton he will have a very good chance.”
