Metro

Stuy ‘cheat’ kid’s dad: Son had cause to crib

The student at the center of the shocking Stuyvesant HS cheating ring was driven to cut corners because he’d been dealt a string of blows outside of school, his dad told The Post.

Najmul Ahsan, the father of junior Nayeem Ahsan, said his son has been stressed out because doctors fear the teen might have cancer and because he was robbed at an Astoria, Queens, subway station last month — which led him to fall behind in his class work.

“My son couldn’t continue to study as diligently as he used to. He said it’s been incredibly difficult to keep up with his studies, and so he became desperate. He was desperate to save his grades from slipping,” said Ahsan.

“There is a reason he did this. So while I don’t agree with what he did, I have an understanding why he did it,” he added. “As a father, I support my son.”

Ahsan suggested his son was largely the recipient — rather than the provider — of answers to several Regents exams this month, even though he described the boy as a brainiac who earned a 2280 out of 2400 on his SATs.

“As brilliant as my son is, this wasn’t a very smart thing for him to do,” said Ahsan, 56, who works at a community newspaper. “This is a very unfortunate thing to have happened.”

He insisted that his 16-year-old offspring should have the opportunity to graduate from the school he’s been attending since freshman year.