'I promised my dad now I've got a PhD at 69'

"Middlesex University Needyanand Raya arrived in London from Mauritius in 1999 to complete his master's degree. He was bearing a promise he made his father - to continue his studies "until there will be no examination beyond that to take". More than two decades later, he's now Dr Raya, having completed a doctorate in social policy at the age of 69 at Middlesex University. When asked how he felt about it? "Well, nothing much. It's just an achievement of a lifetime.""

""I come from quite a downtrodden family," he told BBC Radio London's Eddie Nestor. "My father was a barber and my mother worked as a maidservant. I worked collecting wood from the forest and picking fruit and had to drop out of school because my parents couldn't afford the fees. "It all triggered the discipline and the quest for knowledge and learning.""

"He said: "I had to find a job, I had to settle, I had to do everything. "I came and started as a domestic to begin with, and I worked as a carer. "My first day I walked into the building, a senior staff member opened the door for me and said [to another staff member], 'Under the stairs, give him the mop and the bucket, ask him to start from top floor'. "That's where I started.""

Needyanand Raya arrived in London from Mauritius in 1999 to complete a master's degree, carrying a promise to pursue education until there were no further examinations. He came from a downtrodden family; his father was a barber and his mother a maidservant, and he dropped out of school when his parents could not afford fees. He worked collecting wood and picking fruit, later starting in Britain as a domestic and carer while supporting his family. He deferred an earlier PhD offer to prioritize work and family. He completed a doctorate in social policy at 69 and regards Britain as a land of opportunity.

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