By Hammed Kayode Alabi, Senior Educational Mentoring Coordinator, Refugee Education UK
I can recall my early days starting a job as a West London Educational Mentoring Coordinator at Refugee Education UK (REUK) where I connect young refugees and asylum seekers between the ages of 14 and 25 years to mentors for educational support. I met a young man, let us call him Alward, who was not yet 16 years old, who had fled war in the Middle East and found himself in the UK. In our first meeting, he could not even say 'Hello'. His age was also disputed by the authorities, who had classified him as an adult. This meant he could not access education for young people of his age and be protected as a child. It also meant that he could not have access to a social worker to support him through education and help him create a personal education plan. He, and some older children were receiving £45 a week as living allowance and were supposed to purchase notebooks and textbooks but also travel to college with that amount. Even though some colleges provide bursary allowances, finding such information becomes difficult, if you cannot read. Where is the foundation in these cases?
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