Indian origin British Muslim student wins £76,000 scholarship to study at Eton

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Indian origin British Muslim student wins £76,000 scholarship to study at Eton

Hasan Patel won his place at the school after a gruelling three-day assessment that included three entrance exams, seven interviews and a group interview

Thursday January 24, 2019 12:42 PM, ummid.com News Network

London: Hasan Patel, a 16-year-old Indian origin Muslim student from East London, has won a coveted £76,000 scholarship to attend the prestigious Eton College - attended by the likes of Prince William and Eddie Redmayne.

Hasan Patel won his place at the school after a gruelling three-day assessment that included three entrance exams, seven interviews and a group interview.

Hasan admitted that he “could not be any more different” from his future classmates. “I’m a boy from a Leyton council estate who receives free school meals,” he told the Evening Standard.

“My parents are on welfare", Hasan Patel, whose father lived in abject poverty in India, said.

“I am not joining the elite but simply benefiting from the education my family would never in a million years be able to afford", he said.

However, his success did not go down well with Muslim haters who called him “traitor” and “hypocrite” for accepting the scholarship. But, Hasan hit back at the critics saying instead of attacking him, they should talk about the inequalities in the education system.

"I've been called a 'champagne socialist' because I've been offered a scholarship to Eton College.

1. I'm Muslim. Most of us don't drink.

2. My free school meals don't serve champagne", he wrote on Twitter.

"I’m being called a “traitor, hypocrite, selfish champagne socialist” for accepting a scholarship to Eton College. I’ve worked so hard for this and you’re not going to put me down. Instead of attacking me, why aren’t we talking about the inequalities in the education system?" he wrote in another message posted on the social media site.

The 16-year-old currently attends a local state school, George Mitchell School, and shares a two bedroom council flat with his parents and two brothers in East London, according to Indy100.

He will start Eton in September, where he hopes to study A-levels in history, geography, politics and drama, before hopefully securing a place in Oxbridge.

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