Apartheid row over students from overseas

Education Correspondent

Saturday 23 March 2013

THE treatment of overseas students by Scottish universities under controversial UK-wide immigration laws has been attacked as a form of apartheid.

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Andrew Denholm Education Correspondent

Foreign students at some institutions north of the Border are being asked to sign in at the start of lectures and carry student-identification documents, academics have warned.

The UCU Scotland lecturers union said the "humiliating" practice had become more common since London Metropolitan University lost its licence to recruit overseas students because of a lack of attendance monitoring.

The attack comes after the introduction of tougher visa restrictions by the Home Office sparked by concern at the proliferation of bogus colleges operating as "visa shops".As a result, overseas students, who pay significant fees, are faced with restrictions on the availability of post-study work visas, further English-language tests and interviews before being accepted. Universities also have to ensure the students are attending lectures to show UK Border Agency officials they are genuine students and not working illegally.Professor Iain Ferguson, a member of the UCU Scotland executive committee and an academic from the University of the West of Scotland, said the practice had gone too far.He said: "What's happening across several Scottish universities now is that students are being singled out and required to carry documentation which has to be signed in classes."Often these are black African students who are therefore being treated in a different way from their fellow students. Universities are doing this because they are terrified of losing their ability to recruit overseas students, but they have gone far too far."The reality is that it is putting academics in the position of policing students in a way that is humiliating and has echoes of apartheid in South Africa."Last year, some Scottish colleges were stripped of their licences to recruit overseas students because attendance records were not being kept properly.Universities have already warned restricting the lucrative flow of overseas students will damage their income and threaten their world-class status.In January, The Herald revealed a slump of 25% in undergraduates from Pakistan and India coming to Scots universities with undergraduates from Nigeria down by more than 14%.Earlier, the UCU Scotland congress in East Kilbride condemned allegations of sexist behaviour at a Glasgow University union debate earlier this month. The scandal blew up when two women taking part in the debate were booed and subjected to cries of "shame woman" when they stood up to discuss a motion.The incidents sparked a wave of public concern and widespread condemnation of sexist attitudes, with Cambridge University pulling out of all future debates.

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Apartheid row over students from overseas

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