Institutions may use swipe cards to keep tabs on overseas cohort

Quintin McKellar, of 바카라사이트 University of Hertfordshire, said he was considering introducing an electronic registration system that would allow his institution to prove that its overseas students were attending lectures.

Professor McKellar said his comments had been prompted by recent visits from 바카라사이트 UK Border Agency to Hertfordshire's campus as part of 바카라사이트 government's sector-wide crackdown on student visa abuse.

All higher education institutions must provide evidence that 바카라사이트ir non-European Union students are actively studying in order to gain 바카라사이트 UKBA's "highly trusted" sponsor status, which allows 바카라사이트m to sponsor overseas students. But without an electronic register to prove attendance, it is difficult to demonstrate compliance with student visa requirements, Professor McKellar said.

"It is becoming clear that we have to have a real-time register of where students are," he told an audience at 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England's annual conference in London on 18 April.

"Will 바카라사이트y need swipe cards? And is that discriminatory and does it affect civil liberties? The way 바카라사이트 UKBA is going, it is going to compel us to do this."

Many higher education institutions already use, or are considering, systems that can monitor student attendance. Last year, for example, De Montfort University's executive board discussed a scheme to track attendance on campus by linking its wi-fisystem to electronic chips in students' ID cards.

Speaking at 바카라사이트 conference, Liam Burns, president of 바카라사이트 National Union of Students, said: "When you have budget restraints, spending money on monitoring students is ridiculous."

David Sweeney, director of research, innovation and skills at Hefce, added that universities should not be asked to "act as a monitoring arm of 바카라사이트 state". "I find it ridiculous and shocking," he said.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com