According to a news report, Theresa May, the in-office UK Prime Minister, is having a rethink on the inclusion of the students from India and the non-EU countries in the total migration numbers, post not less than two separate official reports established that a significant number of global students go back when their studies come to an end.
In her earlier role of the British Home Secretary, the present PM had reportedly come down hard on the alleged fake colleges, and shut down the post-study work visa, as component of measures to cut down the total immigration, which has been an important pledge of the her party since the 2010 polls.
Eliminating the high fee-paying global students from the migration numbers has been an old demand by the higher education segment, as the post-2010 curbs have reportedly resulted in not only adverse perceptions overseas but also an over 50% decline in the figure of the students from India.
The British PM has not moved from her stand that the Indian and the non-EU students ought to continue to be counted in the migration numbers. Nonetheless, her reconsideration on the subject is allegedly a positive development, given the reported plans by the opposition Labour and other parties to move an amendment to take away students from migration numbers in the Brexit-associated immigration bill to be tabled in the UK House of Commons afterwards in 2018. Significantly, the May administration does not enjoy a majority in the House of Commons.
Available reports suggest that many top members of the May’s administration also support excluding students. The reason: such students not only leave after studies but also make a handy contribution of more than 25 billion pounds per annum to the British economy, apart from making a good contribution in additional regions.
Three causes have reportedly resulted in the increasing cross-party agreement that the students from the non-EU nations ought not be part of the net migration goal: most recent official reports disclose that against the preceding claims, a sizeable chunk of the international students go back, post studies; the necessity to present a global outlook, post-Brexit; and the dependence of the present administration on outside backing to continue in power.
Significantly, though doing away with the non-EU students from the migration target may not instantly restore the post-study work visa that enjoyed widespread popularity among the self-financing students from India and halted in 2012, some meaning work is already being done allegedly to make it somewhat less difficult for them to get a job in the nation after their studies come to an end.
Towards this, a visa pilot started in July 2016 at four universities across the UK has now reportedly been extended to 23 additional universities, in the process, giving their students from the non-EU nations extra time to get a job, post studies. Despite the fact that it still continues to be rather tough for such students to get a job, and change visa categories, the extension is, allegedly, a development in the right direction.
