SENEGALESE student Aliou Tall has brought his family over from West Africa to see him graduate with a PhD in Philosophy at the University of York today.
Aliou, who attended a primary school in his home country with no electricity, plans to go to neighbouring Mali in August to help improve the quality of teacher training in rural areas.
Many of the schools there have over 170 students per classroom, with five students sharing a desk and only one text book.
He was joining hundreds of students who were receiving their awards during the first day of the university's 40th anniversary graduation ceremonies on the Heslington campus.
For the first time ceremonies were being shown live on big screens in the campus exhibition centre, where historic images of the university over the past four decades were also on display.
Updated: 10:33 Wednesday, July 09, 2003
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