US, UK no longer top educational destinations

With the shrinking portions of American pie, students aspiring to pursue higher education in the promised land are reworking their options.� Severe cuts in the budget earmarked for government research agencies such as National Institute of Health (NIH) as well as government funded projects in the universities has resulted in more students from the city looking at economic options such as Canada and Singapore.

Since the available funding is going to reduce, the chances of getting a fellowship and tuition waiver to study in the US seems bleak. “If I can’t get admission into a partially-funded or fully-funded programme, my best bet will be to apply to Europe, especially Germany or Sweden. Australia is definitely not on the list, given its reputation for hate-crimes,” says Pratyusha Chelikani, a professional who will be applying for M.S programme abroad.

Countries such as Germany, Canada and Singapore are now on top of the list for students interested in studying abroad. The fact that many of the European countries such as Norway, Germany and Finland offer tuition-free education to native and international students, make them a destination of choice. “When faced with the proposition of having to pay for the course, most of the students go in for the smaller countries as it is cheaper than shelling out large sums for the same course in the US or UK,” says an overseas consultant at Begumpet.

“Though Australia was my first option, I chose Singapore for pursuing my MBA as it was an overseas campus of an Australian university. While the degree awarded was the same, I could cut down on my expenditure on education by half” says S. Adithya, who is currently employed in the city.

Wooing Asian students to boost earnings from the international education sector is a trend countries have caught on. While US and UK evolve strict measures to restrict the number of students getting in every year learning from experiences such as the Tri-Valley incident, countries such as Ireland and Canada are bringing the complete range of academic fare on a platter to India by operating through select agents to boost the numbers.

Source: IBN Live

40 UK universities are now breeding grounds for terror as hardline groups peddle hate on campus

England's universities have become a breeding ground for extremism and terrorist recruitment, according to a disturbing government report.

Officials have identified 40 English universities where ‘there may be particular risk of radicalisation or recruitment on campus’.

A soon to be published Whitehall report – seen by the Daily Mail – will point to a string of examples of students going on to commit terrorist acts against this country or overseas.

Alarmingly the Prevent review says that ‘more than 30 per cent of people convicted for Al Qaeda-associated terrorist offences in the UK... are known to have attended university or a higher education institution.

‘Another 15 per cent studied or achieved a vocational or further education qualification. About 10 per cent of the sample were students at the time when they were charged or the incident for which they were convicted took place.’

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk 

‘Bogus students problem’ persists even today

As the US, UK and Australia compete for international students, fears of bogus applicants abusing visa systems persist, but recent research suggests fraud risk levels could be low.

The owner of the Florida Language Institute and one employee pleaded guilty last week to charges of making false visa applications on behalf of students applying to study English at their school.

The school, in the suburbs of Miami, was raided in March following a 12-month surveillance operation by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As well as the arrest of the two defendants and seizures of $2.4m in assets, 81 students from 12 countries were also detained in the Miami area.

The defendants are alleged to have failed to report that the majority of the school's students did not attend classes regularly.

Cases involving suspected visa abuses linked to education and the threat posed by allegedly bogus students grab headlines in other countries. The US, Britain and Australia compete to attract students travelling abroad for study – numbers that, according to OECD estimates, exceeded 3 million in 2007. Institutions must be seen to be safeguarding both their national security and the reputation of their education sectors.

The first line of defence against bogus applications is the application process itself. In the US last year, more than a third of the 490,000 student visa applications made were turned down. The UK rejected a similar proportion of the 350,000 requests it received. Yet only Australia has published a detailed analysis of why students are being refused visas, and by doing so, it has shone a light on the scale and impact of student visa fraud.

The evidence from Australia is that fraud is limited and that the detection and prevention procedures currently used by the department of immigration and citizenship (Diac), which are similar to those used by the US and UK, are fit for purpose.

Countries targeted for scrutiny include India, Mauritius, Nepal, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. China, where only government registered agents are allowed to dispatch students and which sent 18% of Australia's 2008 total, was held up by Diac as a model for other countries.

The UK is also keen to improve the quality of agents, who are responsible for placing one in five foreign students. A British Council-led initiative has brought together representatives from the main countries offering English language courses to work on co-ordinating policies.

However, a categorical assessment of the risk posed by student visa fraud will require greater transparency from immigration authorities. Otherwise it is not possible to erase these problems completely.

Courtesy guardian.co.uk

UK proposes 'new' test for spouses' visas

Citizens of non-EU countries wanting to join their partners in the UK for settlement will be required from September to prove that they can speak basic English.
The rules, which require partners to take a designated test of English, were scheduled to be introduced in July 2011 but have been brought forward by the new coalition government.

All spouses, same-sex and unmarried partners of UK citizens or people settled in Britain will need to speak English to A1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference, equivalent to beginner level. According to the government's immigration information website this includes "being able to understand and use everyday expressions and very basic phrases".

The home secretary, Theresa May, said the rule was part of a review of English language requirements across the visa system. "I believe that being able to speak English should be a prerequisite for anyone who wants to settle here. The new English requirement for spouses will help promote integration, remove cultural barriers and protect public services," she said.

Lecturers may go for 'Strike' in UK

Tens of thousands of university students could have their final year exams and graduation ceremonies disrupted this summer after lecturers warned they may strike over job losses. 

The University and College Union (UCU) which represents lecturers may go for industrial action to oppose at least 14,000 job cuts on campuses across the UK. This could coincide with final exams in June and graduations later on in the year. Sally Hunt, the UCU's general secretary, speaking at the union's annual conference in Manchester, warned that if discussions about redundancies broke down, there could be a national strike. 

There have been at least 15 strikes over job losses at universities since March. Higher education institutions are grappling with cuts of £1.2bn between now and 2013. These include £200m that was slashed from their budgets last week. In March, more than three-quarters of universities in England were told they would have their budgets cut for this September – some by nearly 14%, prompting warnings of larger class sizes, further job cuts and a deterioration in the quality of courses. 

The UCU's representatives on campuses were reporting new redundancies each day, 

Hunt said she wondered how long "this will remain a local action", adding: "Soon our members will want us to take this to a national level and make a national response too." 

Academics at Westminster University have said they will not mark essays and exams in protest over plans to cut 50 posts. A university spokesman said it was taking "every reasonable measure to minimise the impact" on students. 

Meanwhile, academics today accused the government of forcing them to spy on international students. They claim new visa rules, under which academics must report an overseas student who fails to enrol, miss lectures or drops out of a course, are against academic freedom. The rules were devised so officials could keep track of the whereabouts of international students. 

Lecturers called for the union to put up a legal challenge to the points-based immigration scheme. They said they would be prepared to appeal to the European court of human rights if necessary. 

Courtesy guardian.co.uk

Legal Challenge By English Language Schools

English language schools are planning a legal challenge against the Home Office over fears that the UK will lose thousands of jobs and £400m in income through tighter visa regulations this year. 

English UK, the body representing most language schools plans to seek a judicial review of home secretary Alan Johnson's decision to prevent students with only beginner's English from entering Britain for English language courses. 

The regulations, announced last month, were raised due to concerns about illegal immigration and radicalisation of students at UK institutions following the bombing attempt on a US-bound aircraft on Christmas Day by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a British-educated Nigerian. 

The clampdown coincides with sharp cuts to university funding. Vice-chancellors fear that a decision in January to suspend student visa applications from large parts of the Indian subcontinent because of suspected abuse of the rules will affect enrolment numbers. 

English UK, which represents 440 schools and colleges, describes the government's insistence that those who come to learn English must already be competent in the language as an absurd remark. The home secretary has not brought the changes before parliament which is claimed ‘unlawful by the association’. 

The schools claim as many as 100,000 students will be deterred from entering the UK, that £400m in income and 3,400 teaching jobs will be lost, and a further £1bn forfeited in university fees because higher education institutions recruit as many as 70% of their students from among those already studying English language and foundation courses in the UK. 

Many English language schools are based on the south coast, particularly in Brighton and Bournemouth. Others are in Oxford, Cambridge and London. Students come from countries such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Turkey, Japan, Venezuela and Vietnam. 

Restricting these students will cause a huge loss to the economy of UK and further create slump in the coming years as far as enrollments are concerned in English Language schools. 

UK's stricter visa rules for students.

Indian students along with other foreign students who want to study in the UK will be required to meet stricter entry criteria, the UK government British home secretary Alan Johnson announced recently. The new regulations will ensure that students studying below degree level have a limited ability to work in the UK, and that their dependants cannot work in Britain at all. It will be even harder for bogus students, whose only aim is to work in the UK, to come into the country, the British government has said. The details announced Wednesday come a week after Britain suddenly stopped issuing student visas in north India, Bangladesh and Nepal, suspecting large scale "irregularities". 

The UK Border Agency announced on Feb 1, it was not accepting any new applications under the Tier 4 student route of the points-based system at the following visa application centres: North India - New Delhi, Jalandhar and Chandigarh, Bangladesh - Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong & Nepal – Kathmandu.

The concerns were raised last year when a media investigation revealed that thousands of foreign nationals were residing in the UK under the false cover of bogus universities in the cities of London, Manchester and Bradford. The home secretary also confirmed that the government will implement plans to introduce a points test by 2011 for those who wish to earn British Citizenship.  Johnson said: "The Points Based System was introduced to provide a rigorous system to manage legitimate access to the UK to work and study, with the ability to respond to changing circumstances. We want foreign students to come here to study, not to work illegally, and today we have set out necessary steps which will maintain the robustness of the system we introduced last year. I make no apologies for that." 

The new measures include: 

* A good standard of English (equivalent of holding just below a GCSE in a foreign language) will be needed to come to the UK and study to improve English language competency further; 

* A good standard of English (again equivalent of holding just below a GCSE in a foreign language) will need to be demonstrated in order to study any other course below degree level; 

* Restricting the lowest level courses (A-levels and equivalent) to only the most trusted institutions; 

* Halving the amount of time a student studying below first degree level or on a foundation degree course, will be able to work, to just ten hours during term time; 

* A ban on bringing in dependants for anyone studying a course for less than six months; and 

* A ban on dependants of anyone studying a course lower than foundation or undergraduate degree level from working - they will face removal from the UK if found doing so. 

* A ban on foreign students studying below degree level if the course includes a work placement - unless that course is being provided by a university, college or training provider which has the status of "highly trusted sponsor"; 

* A requirement for students to demonstrate their English language ability by passing an approved secure test - this will apply to all students studying below (foundation) degree level, including those coming to study English language; and 

* Introduction of tougher criteria for defining which course providers count as "highly trusted sponsors" of foreign students. We expect that all publicly funded universities and colleges will count as highly trusted, and we will ensure that there is a rapid but rigorous system for ensuring that private training colleges can also gain that status as soon as possible. 

CRACK DOWN ON POTENTIAL ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM

The UK government said it "recognises the essential contribution genuine international students bring - economically, academically and socially - to the country as a whole, as well as to the universities and colleges in which they study. "However these steps are part of the government's commitment to crack down on potential abuse of the system." These changes are part of a radical overhaul of the student system that began last year. Since March 2009, the government has required all foreign students to be sponsored by a UK Border Agency licensed college and to demonstrate they can support themselves once they get here before being granted a visa. Also since March, any college or university wanting to bring in international students must be accredited and licensed. This has reduced the number of institutions able to bring students to the UK from over 4,000 to approximately 2,000.  Alan Johnson said: "We have already made fundamental changes to the immigration system to control migration in a way that is firm, and has a positive impact on our work force and economy. From 2011 we will put the mechanisms in place that will ensure that people who are allowed to become citizens have earned their right to stay here. We will do this using a points test, giving us the ability to take clear, enforceable decisions about who should be allowed to stay permanently, with the flexibility to raise or lower the threshold for citizenship, depending on the current interests of the country and economy."  Under the new rules anyone wishing to become a permanent resident will have to earn their right to citizenship. This will restrict the number of economic migrants granted citizenship, for example by limiting it only to those who have the qualifications or skills that the economy needs, or are living in parts of the country where there are specific skills shortages that they can fill.  They will also have to demonstrate that they could speak good English for their application to be successful. 

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) 

Beginning February 22, all applicants for clearance to study in the UK will be required to have a special virtual number known as the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from their prospective sponsors. That number will be obtained from the central admissions teams that issue students with unconditional offers to study in their respective colleges confirming that they qualify to pursue the specified course. Once a student accepts such an offer, he or she will be contacted to ascertain the veracity of information provided during the application, paving the way for her to be issued with a special CAS from the university in which they wish to study and provide all information needed to apply for a visa such as the start and end dates for academic course, fees and documents used to assess their eligibility. The information will be uploaded on the UK government's electronic data management system where it will be shared among the various departments, including the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to help track the immigrants. The data will also be useful for security agencies that will use it to track the aliens' activities while they are in the UK. This means, the CAS virtual number and will replace the visa letter that is currently used to support applications to enter the UK for studies or in the case of visa extensions, to continue their studies in the UK.