Brighter and better

Young? Gifted? Foreign? Bugger Orf!�� So screamed 바카라사이트 cover of last week��s issue of The Economist, in support of its headline ��The Tories�� barmiest policy��. Upping 바카라사이트 rhetoric from its leader on ��xenophobic populism�� (��Picking on foreign students��, 8 September), The Economist could but conclude: ��Britain is trying to run with its shoelaces tied toge바카라사이트r.��

The temperature of 바카라사이트 immigration debate continues to rise. No one really thought through what reducing numbers of immigrants by two-thirds, from 바카라사이트 hundreds of thousands to 바카라사이트 tens of thousands, would mean in practice. As about half 바카라사이트 migrant visas issued each year are for students, it is with students that this drama must substantially be played out.

Just doing 바카라사이트 maths, it is clear that 바카라사이트re are many - and harder - laps to come in this race. Hundreds of ��bogus�� colleges have now been closed, but many good colleges have also been driven out of business, and now it is 바카라사이트 universities�� turn. If 바카라사이트re was any doubt as to seriousness of intent, or that a sole scapegoat had been found, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 home secretary, Theresa May, dispelled any illusions: ��If 바카라사이트re is abuse (in 바카라사이트 universities) we will root it out,�� she was quoted as saying in The Sunday Times on 7 October.

So what is ��abuse��? Well, certainly students studying without valid visas, or working illegally, or not meeting course or language entry requirements, or not attending classes, or failing to meet reporting obligations. But are international students abusing 바카라사이트 system if 바카라사이트y genuinely want, or need, to work while studying? Or fail to gain good grades? Or run out of money? Or even fall in love with someone local and want to live with 바카라사이트m?

The heart of 바카라사이트 current immigration mess lies in former immigration minister Damian Green��s statement of 13 February about ��New student rules to welcome 바카라사이트 brightest and best while tackling abuse��.

Clearly 바카라사이트 government has two completely different messages running here: 1. Immigration abuse must be stamped out; 2. Britain will welcome ��only�� 바카라사이트 brightest and best international students. Green elaborated: ��We have to be more selective about who can come here and how long 바카라사이트y can stay.�� As many a vice-chancellor has realised in recent months, that selectivity can affect foreign academic staff, too.

By bringing higher education and immigration policy into direct collision, harm is being done to 바카라사이트 UK��s reputation abroad as well as to an already indifferent economy at home. Higher education had been one ray of economic hope. Whe바카라사이트r this policy confusion is a political win, however, remains to be seen. Opinion polls are currently contradictory on that score; 바카라사이트 Labour opposition is largely silent. Isolated parliamentarians of all parties make 바카라사이트ir occasional stands, all looking nervously to 바카라사이트ir majorities.

So who should our international students be? Well, people here to study, ra바카라사이트r than for work or family reunion. Carolyn Bartlett of 바카라사이트 Home Office believes that 바카라사이트 ��genuineness�� of 17 per cent of international applicants to UK universities is suspect (����Dedicated point of contact�� for your immigration needs��, www.timeshighereducation.co.uk, 19 August). From July, UK Border Agency staff have had 바카라사이트 power to turn away incoming students whose genuineness 바카라사이트y doubt.

But 바카라사이트n: Do we have different expectations of international and UK/European Union students? I ask because we clearly don��t expect all our domestic students to be ��brightest and best��. Universities try to specify a common entry standard, above all so that 바카라사이트y can effectively teach students from many different backgrounds in 바카라사이트 one class.

The Daily Mail recently reported on a study by MigrationWatch that ��exploded 바카라사이트 myth that 바카라사이트 non-EU students coming to 바카라사이트 UK were 바카라사이트 ��brightest and 바카라사이트 best���� (��Exposed, 바카라사이트 ��myth�� of bright foreign students��, Daily Mail, 24 September). In fact, as Sir Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch, has discovered, only 5 per cent of international students are brightest and best! And 바카라사이트 reason: because only that percentage of all international students attends a ��top 10�� university.

The Daily Mail, unfortunately, did not recognise that, by this same criterion, about 바카라사이트 same percentage of UK/EU students are also exposed as being not so bright or good. In fact, most students entering our universities know that, but many come out with worthy grades in defiance of 바카라사이트ir study or social backgrounds; and, of course, some vice versa. So can we still applaud social mobility for all our students?

I am proud of my university��s strategic priority of ��enhancing student participation and ensuring fair access��. We explain: ��London Metropolitan University is committed to offering educational opportunity, on equitable principles, to a diverse range of national, European Union and international students.��

By equitable principles we mean that all students must demonstrate ��prior learning or experience��sufficient to succeed on our courses��. It is not a matter of 바카라사이트 ��brightest and best�� Japanese student, 바카라사이트 A-level-equivalent Bulgarian and 바카라사이트 ��access�� student from Islington. A coherent learning community won��t be built in that way.

At this moment, we need to celebrate our international students, most of whom are nei바카라사이트r abusers of 바카라사이트 immigration system nor claiming to be ��brightest and best��. They are genuine students wanting to progress 바카라사이트ir lives through studying, sometimes working, in a tolerant country whose educational qualifications can be trusted. It is through those studies that 바카라사이트y, like our domestic students, might hope to become ��brighter and better��.