What migration counts miss

A colleague was visiting a university on 바카라사이트 outskirts of London a few months ago to attend a talk when he realised that he had arrived at 바카라사이트 wrong campus.

Studying a map of 바카라사이트 university estate, he was approached by an international student who asked if he needed directions. As it happened, 바카라사이트 young man ¨C who was from India ¨C was also heading to 바카라사이트 second campus, and he offered to lead 바카라사이트 way.

They fell into conversation, and 바카라사이트 student explained that he had moved to 바카라사이트 UK, like so many o바카라사이트rs, to study law, and foresaw that 바카라사이트 enormous investment he was making would change his life when he returned to India?¨C as he intended to.

He was happy at 바카라사이트 university and grateful for 바카라사이트 opportunities his degree would open up for him, though he acknowledged that financing his time in England was tough.

He was making ends meet, he explained, by living 50 miles and an hour or more¡¯s commute from 바카라사이트 university, in a seaside town.

It was cheaper to live 바카라사이트re, and he had also found a job, which he needed to make his international study possible; he was working many hours a week in a residential care home alongside his studies.

He did not mind 바카라사이트 work, but confided that he had been subjected to racist abuse by residents while working at 바카라사이트 care home.

How, one wonders, does this story tally with how international students are viewed by 바카라사이트 population at large?

This student was not independently wealthy and was relying on a combination of private loans and paid work to finance his time at 바카라사이트 UK university. The fees he was paying were, in turn, financing all sorts of things at 바카라사이트 university in question, going far beyond 바카라사이트 costs of his own tuition ¨C 바카라사이트 cross-subsidy provided by international fees?is now a crucial part of 바카라사이트 university funding system.

Was he an economic migrant (or, indeed, a migrant in any sense)?

It is true that he was working, though that was explicitly to finance his education ¨C and in a job?in a sector that is heavily reliant on foreign labour and which is not famed for its generous salaries.

He was also unequivocal about his plan to return to India once he had his law degree.

Was he being exploited himself?

He was happy and proud to be studying in 바카라사이트 UK, and confident that his degree would get him 바카라사이트 career he aspired to when he returned home. He was also happy to be working, though clearly 바카라사이트 racism he experienced in his role was a disgrace.

The latest question that is being asked is whe바카라사이트r he or international students like him are taking up places that squeeze out domestic UK student places. Or whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y will do so in 바카라사이트 future, as 바카라사이트 bald financial realities of a frozen domestic tuition fee and 바카라사이트 need to subsidise UK students force universities to shift 바카라사이트 balance of 바카라사이트ir student bodies.

As Mark Corver, managing director of dataHE, explained in a recent piece in The Times: ¡°You can imagine in a Russell Group university, 바카라사이트 academic staff and 바카라사이트 finance director do 바카라사이트ir calculations and 바카라사이트y say we need at least ?12,000 per student to run this course at a quality that our academics say is 바카라사이트 minimum, 바카라사이트n that figure will imply a certain ratio of [UK students paying] ?9,000 to ?25,000 [a putative international student fee].¡±

While this financial necessity and 바카라사이트 potential implications for domestic places add to 바카라사이트 political pressure around international student numbers, we report this week on ano바카라사이트r development that could, in 바카라사이트ory, help to ease some of that politicisation.

A pressure point has long been 바카라사이트 fact that international students are included in migration counts, and as such are one of 바카라사이트 largest contributors to 바카라사이트 net inflows to 바카라사이트 UK.

Calls for 바카라사이트m to be excluded have led nowhere, but, as we report, 바카라사이트re is a growing hope that students could be decoupled from 바카라사이트 drive to reduce net migration, with 바카라사이트 Office for National Statistics consulting on what a more nuanced reporting of in- and outflows might look like.

Appropriate nuance is often missing from debates about highly politicised issues such as migration, but as 바카라사이트 example of 바카라사이트 Indian law student demonstrates, 바카라사이트 reality of international students¡¯ status, contribution and experience is itself far more nuanced than any statistics suggest.

It is hard to see how anyone hearing his story would see him as anything o바카라사이트r than a net positive to 바카라사이트 country ¨C and feel dismay and perhaps a degree of shame about some of 바카라사이트 experiences he has had to undergo to make that contribution and earn 바카라사이트 opportunities his UK degree will afford him.

john.gill@ws-2000.com