Foreign Students At Risk As UK Set to Deport Them Immediately After Graduation
The United Kingdom has said that Nigerians and other foreign students are at risk of deportation immediately after concluding their university education. The Daily Mail reports that Suella Braverman, the United Kingdom Home Secretary, and the Department of Education are still arguing about the duration that foreign students should spend in the country after graduation.
Braverman is currently working tirelessly to make sure that the duration of time spent by foreign students in the country after graduation should be reduced from 2 years to 6 months. Meanwhile, the Department of Education has kicked against Braverman’s plan to reduce the duration to just 6 months, after they have acquired a skilled job which thereby grants them the eligibility for either a work visa or to vacate the country.
Braverman is determined to reduce the number of immigrants and subsequently decrease the number of immigrants who are unskilled migrating to Britain from 239,000 to tens of thousands. In line with this, Braverman is working towards reducing the number of foreign students who wish to apply for a post-study work visa after graduation which would give them the opportunity to stay and work in the United Kingdom for two years or more.
Disagreeing with Braverman’s plan, education officials have noted that the plan would render the United Kingdom less attractive to foreign students. The education officials also noted that foreign students pay higher for their courses when compared to the citizens, thereby boosting the economy of the country.
As one of the preferred destination for Nigerians who want to study abroad, according to data, in 2022, the United Kingdom released 222.8 % of study visas to Nigeria and 65,929 visas was issued in June 2022 against 20,427 which was issued in 2021.
According to SBM data analysis, Nigerian students as well as their dependent residing in the United Kingdom contributes an estimated £1.9 billion to the United Kingdom economy. Also, in the 2021/2022 academic session, an estimated £680,620,000 was reportedly paid as school fees by Nigerian students and £54.3m taxes were paid by the students’ spouses who are working.
However, Nigeria’s tertiary education sector is decaying, Mr. Gbolahan Bolarin, a professor in the department of mathematics, at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, advised the Nigerian government to be dedicated and fund tertiary institutions in the country so that it does not collapse completely.
