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CAMPAIGN: Emmanuel Opoku

AN ASPIRING chemist within reaching distance of his academic dreams is hoping that a fundraising campaign will carry him the rest of the way after being denied a student loan.

Emmanuel Opoku, 20, moved to Britain from Ghana when he was nine years old and is now a UK resident.

But the bright pupil, and others in a similar situation, is currently ineligible for the funding, which students repay once they start working.

They also have to pay international school fees often in excess of £26,000 a year rather than the £9,000 per year maximum expected from British students following a change in the law in 2012.

Without the loan, Opoku has to raise £26,500 to cover the cost of his education or watch his academic dreams slip away.

Rather than be defeated by his circumstances, Opoku – a top student who earned eight A*s and four As at GCSE and three As at A-level in maths, physics and chemistry – joined a two-year campaign to challenge the law he saw as unjust.

He told The Voice: “Why shouldn’t I be able to pursue my dreams as a legal resident in this country?

“I just felt like it wasn’t right especially because I know that I was contributing to the economy through taxes and what we as a campaign were asking for wasn’t free money, it’s money that everyone else is entitled to and expected to pay back.”

TALENTED STUDENT: Opoku hopes to challenge what he sees as an unfair law

The Let Us Learn campaign was represented by Just for Kids Law and taken to the Supreme Court, which found in their favour.

It ruled that the blanket ban on students regardless of their length of residence or strength of their ties to the country was disproportionate and could not be justified.

While the changes that are due to come into effect will not benefit Opoku, the east Londoner expressed relief that another young student would not be subjected to the hurdles he has had to face.

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” he said.

“At one point it felt like torture; knowing that you’ve spent all these years in education doing what you’re told, makings sacrifices – I did it all. I was so happy when results came in and then I’m told I can’t go to university. It was hard.”

The top student is now fundraising to cover his costs ahead of him accepting his place at one of London’s most prestigious universities, Imperial College London for a three-year course in chemistry.

While he has managed to secure funding for his course through TIKO Foundation – an education charity – and his wages as a teaching assistant, covering the remaining costs have continued to prove difficult.

The undergraduate is now reaching out in the hopes that collective contributions can help him reach his goal of £25,000 to cover costs over the three years.

More details on Emmanuel’s campaign can be found at www.hubbub.net/p/eotoimperial