The parents of a Bristol University student who took her own life in April 2018 have slammed a Government decision not to tighten up the law requiring universities to have a legal duty of care for their students. Natasha Abrahart's parents said the Government was ‘ducking the issue’, after it dropped the idea of writing into law a requirement that universities had a legal duty to ensure the welfare of their students.
Margaret and Robert Abrahart, and other parents of students who have taken their own lives at British universities, are now campaigning for 100,000 people to sign a petition in the next five weeks, to force MPs to debate the issue in Parliament. The campaign launched this week is called ‘For the 100’, and references an estimation that around 100 university students take their own life every year in the UK.
Responding to the call from the Abraharts and parents like them who have lost children at university, the Department for Education rebuffed the call for a new law. A spokesperson said last week: “Higher Education providers do have a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution.
