THE Government may be using a sledgehammer to crack the proverbial nut in its crackdown on foreign students.
Fair enough, there are some who are tricking their way into this country by claiming to attend colleges which later turn out to be bogus.
It’s seen as an easy immigration route into the country and it is quite right that the Government cracks down on these cases.
But there are many thousands of overseas students who come to study at our universities. They pay a lot of money to do so which has never been more vital for universities than now, but they also spend money in the local economy too.
They pay higher tuition fees than UK students and so, perhaps, this is one way of keeping the rising tuition fees here more affordable.
The University of Huddersfield has a good reputation overseas which academic chiefs have worked hard to foster.
Admissions rose by more than half in 2009 and international students now contribute around £30m to the Kirklees economy – a not insubstantial sum.
The Home Office is considering a tougher English test to drive down this migration, but reputable academic establishments such as the University of Huddersfield already have such a system in place with its special preparation course to make sure the students will be academically strong enough to go on and take a degree.
Surely the Government should be insisting that all universities run such a course to a nationally agreed standard.
It must be easy for them to check out the bogus colleges and that’s where the time and effort should be spent.
