fachcha
forum of college freshers and school-children
Tough time is ahead for Indian students who wish to study abroad, especially UK. After spate of attacks on Indian student community in Australia now it is turn of UK to make it a difficult place for Indian students, especially for those whose mother tongue is other than English.
In a latest move, after suspension of students visa process for North Indian students for one month, the UK government has announced tough measures for students. According to media reports British Home Minister Alan Johnson has announced Intermediate level English requirements to study in UK, including short term courses. This is tougher level for those students who have not nurtured in English education system, says a senior teacher of Delhi University. The level is normally required for school teachers in Indian context, he says.
“It was a kind of close shave. Our students got their visa approval just a week ago before the announcement of the suspension of visa process”, says Savita Mehta, Vice-President, (Communications), Amity University. 36 students of Amity got visa approval in January 2010, before the announcement, she adds.
On the other hand the UK has said that the step has been taken to keep bogus students out of the country who come here to work and not for study by misusing student visa. The number of work hours is also being reduced for the foreign students from 20 hours to 10 hours in a week.
On the issue of continuous attacks on Indian students in Australia opposition BJP has lodged strong protest and submitted a memorandum to the Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna demanding tough action against perpetrators of such crimes. The memorandum, jointly issued by Sushma Swaraj, Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitely, Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, has demanded the government to raise the issue through the international forum of Human Rights too. The text of the memorandum has given below:
S.M.Krishna 1st Feb 2010
Minister for External Affairs
Govt. of India, New Delhi
Dear Minister,
We have been constrained to approach you on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party being concerned about the safety of Indians, particularly Indian students in Australia. India and Australia have a history of cordial and friendly relations. We are committed to the maintenance of this relationship. However, incidents of the past few months have created a sense of anguish amongst all Indians about the manner in which the Indian students in Australia are being treated.
Indian students have been the targets of mindless violence and attacks in Australia. These attacks are wholly unprovoked. There is no plausible explanation as to why only persons belonging to one national origin are being singled out for these attacks. Citizens of other nationalities as also locals in Australia have not been subjected to such humiliation. There is no provocation in Australia by the Indian community. Neither are Indian students, some of whom may be working part time, indulging in professions or activities which can be a ground for provocation. Under these circumstances we are constrained to assume that these attacks are essentially racial in character and deserve to be condemned by one and all. The assurances of the Australian government including the Prime Minister have not reduced the intensity of these attacks.
The Government of India has come out with statements of concern for the students and an advisory has been issued advising students not to go to Australia. However, the safety of those who are already in Australia remains of utmost concern.
On behalf of Bharatiya Janata Party we have been constrained to approach you to take some effective steps to ensure that the Australian authorities act effectively to stop these attacks. The investigation of these crimes in Australia needs to be expedited and culprits brought to book. Only a deterrent punishment to the perpetrators of such crimes will ensure that such crimes are prevented. The government of India must also explore the possibility of raising this issue on the Human Rights forum globally. With warm regards.
Sushma Swaraj
Arun Jaitley
A total of 100 attacks on Indians and Indian students have been reported from Australia this year. No such incident has been reported on Indians throughout the year from the other countries like Singapore or New Zealand. According to the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi the 1.21 lakh Indian students are studying in Australia. Most of the students belong to the states like Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Gujrat.
According to Ravi the Australian Government has taken several steps for the safety of Indian students after the intervention of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue. These include strict policing in the several areas and amendment in the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. It has now became mandatory, under this Act, for all educational Institutions to re-register under the new and tighter criteria by 31 December 2010. Some colleges have also been de-registered and closed in Australia after these measures
After the attacks on Indian students in Australia a report regarding efforts for the welfare of the students will be submitted by December. This has been revealed during a meeting today between Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal and Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Australia. The HRD Minister has mooted the raising of the level of the Joint Working Group for Education between India and Australia to ministerial level. Social welfare of students, mutual recognition of degrees, academic cooperation etc will be purview of the Joint working group. Sibal also said that the sub-group on social welfare of students must meet soon.
Both Australia and India could have a dedicated nodal officer at both ends to enable the free flow of information required related to students welfare and related issues. This could be particularly useful when there are doubts regarding quality of degrees being offered by an institute etc. Both sides discussed at length the issue of recent incidents of violence on Indian students in Australia. The Australian Minister emphasized that the Australian government sees this both as a criminal issue and a public policy issue and his government is dealing with this on both accounts.
Kapil Sibal said that India was today at the cusp of opportunity and he is of the view that once the education sector in India opens up, what the world saw India become in services and manufacturing, will happen in the years to come in HR development. He said that he was saying this because in India the output dividend in education is greater than the input costs. He informed the Australian delegates that the Ministry was considering a regulatory framework for attracting foreign investments in higher education in India. He suggested that the foreign universities could set up their campuses in India in future. This model would be mutually beneficial as it would generate large number of skilled professionals who could meet the needs of the growing Indian economy as well as the global market.