Crossword Genius

Fellow from school not up to date about Conservative problem (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

obstacle

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'problem' is the definition.
(I have seen 'The problem' mean 'obstacle' so perhaps 'problem' could also mean 'obstacle')

'fellow from school not up to date about conservative' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is found in the answer.
'school' could be 's' and 's' is found within the answer.
'about' could be 'c' (circa) and 'c' is present in the answer.
'fellow' could be 'al' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'al' is located in the leftover letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for obstacle that I've seen before include "Thing that obstructs progress" , "stumbling block" , "Block to progress" , "Thing blocking progress" , "hold-up" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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