UK government's hostility towards migrants is pushing international students away, a study has revealed. It goes without saying that overseas students make an enormous contribution to the British economy. Research shows that they support 170,000 UK jobs, and are worth over £10.7 billion to the economy annually. A recent secret government study has reported that that only 1% of students overstay their visa permit, despite the government suggesting in the past that the figure was far higher. Boris Johnson as the Mayor of London, had insisted that the government should exclude Foreign students from the immigration numbers.
Despite this, May is reportedly determined to crack down on the number coming to the country. The Times reports that home secretary Amber Rudd tried to remove students from official immigration statistics, in order to protect them from an impending post-Brexit crackdown on immigration, but May blocked the move.
With scrapping of post study work scheme (2 years visa to work in the UK, after graduation) Indian students now choose Singapore, Australia, Canada, US and even mainland Europe over the UK as a destination for higher study. The number of Indian students has fallen by 10% in the last one year alone. With the pound rate low against rupee, UK should expect an influx of foreign students- which of course have been affected by Mrs May's 'unwelcome' attitude.
Ishita Dutta, a student of University of Calcutta told Asian Voice, "I have scored quite high marks in my finals. I am thinking of higher studies but I have not applied to any UK universities because of the immigration rules.
"My father is a University of London graduate, and my mother studied in Scotland. We are naturally attracted to Britain as a destination for further education. But after paying £25,000 as a one-year course fee, we are expected to head back immediately after the course finishes, without a fair opportunity to gain some work experience. I would rather go to the US or Canada (I have offers from both) to achieve my dreams. It's a shame how UK has closed its doors on us."
A YouGov survey of 1,658 adults, conducted late last month, suggests that voters do not share ministers’ negative views of international students. The study has found that, half of voters want the government to encourage more overseas students to study at British universities, while fewer than a third say they should be deterred. The Times revealed, people were also relaxed about international students staying to look for work in Britain once their degree courses end, the study said.
When asked their view of overseas students who remained in Britain after finishing their studies, 42 per cent said they had a positive impact and just 13 per cent a negative impact, with the remaining 45 per cent saying they had no effect or they did not know. Another question asked if foreign students should be allowed to stay in Britain for a limited period to look for a graduate-level job, in line with current practice — 54 per cent said yes and 28 per cent said no.
The findings raise further questions about Theresa May’s hardline stance on immigration after proposals to force companies to reveal how many foreign workers they employ were scrapped following an outcry.
Vice Chancellors of many 24 Russell Group universities were unhappy to be left out when Home Office announced the trial in August in which just four institutions (Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and Bath) were allowed to process visas for overseas students for Masters degrees, themselves. They students were also going to be allowed to stay in the UK for 6 months after graduationg, 2 months more than ohers, to find skilled and relevant jobs. The experiment was meant to run for two years, depending on results, was meant to extend. However with Amber Rudd's comment on tougher rules for students on lower quality courses, and profeciency in English, this left many questions unanswered including the definition of lower quality courses.
At the moment, international students can stay 4 months after their courses end and then leave unless they find a job that pays him £20,000.
According to Sir David Greenway, Vice Chancellor of Nottingham University, the brightest and best international students are attracted to come to the UK, bringing diversity. According to a calculation by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Universities UK, foreign students and their visitors create more than 63,000 jobs. Higher education is UK's one of biggest and successful exports. It contributes £10bn in overseas earnings, £4bn from tution fees alone. That makes it a top ten export activity- bigger than chemicals, telecoms, food and drink. Moreover a survey in 2012 showed that 78 per cent of international graduates intend to develop professional relationships with organisations in Britain and 86 per cent remained connected to their University. A high percent of international students go on to leadership positions at home- this asset becomes very important after Brexit. It is the right time to do all the government can, to attract high-calibre foreign students. Instead it is deterring them with tough visa based on false assumptions.
Sanam Arora, the President of National Indian Students Union (NISU) told Asian Voice, “The word migrant suddenly seems to carry this rather negative connotation that is associated with the rhetoric of crime and 'oh they take our jobs'. First of all, students are not in the truest sense of the word 'migrants'. They are consumers of international higher education who happen to be based in the country for the duration of their studies. At the most they may be referred to temporary migrants and therefore should never be counted as part of the net migration numbers.
“India sends 300,000 students abroad every year, an industry worth many billions of dollars and indeed as the second largest consumer of the fourth largest export market of the UK it is about time they got the consumer rights that go along with being the consumers of a UK export. The UK wants the best and brightest of Indian students to come to the UK but sadly this won't happen if we don't recreate the healthy welcome feeling that the UK once offered. Countries like Germany have made education free, so I fail to understand why the UK is making our own revenues and higher education institutions suffer.
“As Indian diaspora of the UK as well we need to ask ourselves if we are doing enough in the field of higher education cooperation between the UK and India.”
