Our former Deputy Vice-Chancellor Andrew Atherton looks like he’s got off to a storming start in his new role as VC at Dundee. ‘Blind student facing deportation says university reneged on support,’ reports The Guardian on 13 May. Bamidele Chika Agbakuribe, from Nigeria, was promised ‘state of the art’ facilities at Dundee but, instead, Mr Agbakuribe claims he was given ‘failing IT equipment’ and inadequate supervision. When he complained, the university reportedly failed him, cancelled his student status and contacted the Home Office, which has said it will deport Agbakuribe and his family on 5 June.
Mr Agbakuribe faces having to repay tens of thousands of pounds to his sponsor and being left destitute:
There are two sides to every story, of course, and Dundee notes in an official statement that it ‘has an obligation to ensure that academic standards are consistently applied so that the value of a University of Dundee degree is consistently maintained. It would be wrong to permit a student to continue on a programme when these standards have not been met.’ It ‘regrets that, under immigration rules beyond the University’s control, this means that the student is expected to leave the country.’
subtext hopes that the new VC can facilitate a solution here.