Wednesday, February 26, 2014

From Newham to Eton: Ethiopian migrant’s son lands PPE scholarship

(Feb 26, 2014, (London Evening Standard))--The schoolboy son of an Ethiopian immigrant from one of London’s poorest boroughs is to follow in the footsteps of David Cameron and 18 other British prime ministers after winning a prestigious place at Eton.

Ishak Ayiris, 15, will swap an impoverished East End council estate in Newham for the hallowed halls of the world-famous public school after winning a two-year scholarship. He will rub shoulders with the elite when he takes his place at the Windsor establishment to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics next September.

Ishak, from Forest Gate Community School, used money from the Pupil Premium — a Government scheme that gives schools extra money to encourage hard-up children — to help him win the two-year scholarship after impressing during a series of rigorous interviews at Eton.

He said: “Leaving will be hard for my family, not so much for me. Windsor is much quieter than Newham. Newham is loud, vibrant. “It is a wonderful opportunity for me. It will be very different because the people I have grown up with in Newham and at Forest Gate school don’t have the same background as the people I will mix with at Eton.” Read more from London Evening Standard »

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