Schools used as visa scam front

Some UK language schools are being used as bases by people selling false papers enabling immigrants to obtain student visas, the BBC has found. Some are paying up to £600 for fake documents which they use in visa applications to extend their stay in the UK, the Ten O'clock News reported. It filmed people selling documents to immigrants who had indicated they had no intention of studying in the UK. The Home Office plans a more rigorous system of registering colleges. It believes more than half of 83 registered language colleges it inspected recently should be shut down. The Home Office will grant a student visa only if the applicant is studying at a registered school. ……………And in the future it will be made mandatory for colleges to make it compulsory to report students who do not attend classes regularly. ……In one highlighted case, £350 was paid for papers saying an applicant had completed an eight-week course despite her making it clear she had no intention of studying. A man connected with a different center offered to arrange a visa for £300 without the need to attend the school. [View Full Article]

Oxford to target students from India

Lord Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, will visit India next month as part of a drive to attract brightest students from the country to help university compete with the better-funded US Ivy League colleges."Globalisation doesn't end at the Thames Valley……….."I hope it will be the first of several visits to India and China over the next few years," he said. "I don't think a serious university can do without a properly thought-through strategy for China and India."………… there were about 17,000 Indian students in Britain, compared with nearly 80,000 in the US.He said, "we have to fight very hard to keep our position in the world league table to stay up there with Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and MIT." [View Full Article]

Universities see sharp rise in foreign students

The number of foreign undergraduate students at British universities has leapt by 8 per cent to almost 50,000, boosted by double-digit increases from China and new EU member countries. The rise - the fastest since 2003 - testifies to the continuing international appeal of British higher education. Four of the world's top 10 universities are British, according to the latest Times Higher Education Supplement survey, including Imperial College London and University College London, where at least a third of the undergraduates are foreign.
The popularity of British higher education abroad also boosts UK private schools, some of which have high numbers of Chinese and German students in particular - anxious to earn A-Levels that prepare them for entry to the best universities.…………………"UK degrees are recognised around the world as being high-quality and lead to excellent employment opportunities."………..The number of successful candidates from the 12 newer EU countries jumped 30.5 per cent to 7,024. Many are likely to stay in Britain, providing skilled labour.[View Full Article]

Record number of students gain university places

The number of full-time students gaining places at UK universities in 2007 rose to a record 413,430, bouncing back after a decline in the first year of top-up fees.…………….There was a rise of 7.9% in overseas accepted applicants. Norway (17.5%), Malaysia (14.4%), China (12.4%), Sri Lanka (8.6%), Hong Kong (7.9%) and Canada (7.5%) saw the largest rises outside of the EU. Figures for China and Hong Kong are listed separately by Ucas.……………………"Universities have worked hard to ensure that all eligible students are aware of the many strands of financial support available, and that this information is as accessible and easy to understand as possible.
"Furthermore, the international figures show the UK remains one of the leading international destinations for students looking for a quality higher education experience," she added. [View Full Article]

200,000 Chinese Students Predicted to Study Overseas in 2008

The number of Chinese students heading overseas to study is estimated to reach a new record of 200,000 this year, state media reports. Citing official sources, China Daily says that this figure is set to significantly outpace the “average of 130,000 Chinese who have been going abroad for studies every year over the past few years.”
The growing demand for overseas study reflects the increasingly gloomy job situation for graduates in China. While the country is expecting to produce 5.5 million college graduates this year (up from five million in 2007), one-fifth of 2007 college graduates had failed to find a job by the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE).…………. "The grim job situation at home, a strong and rising yuan and a favourable visa and scholarship environment will together prompt more students to study abroad.”
[View Full Article]

Destination education

It is a phenomenon that cannot go unnoticed - the market of Indian students heading overseas for further education is opening up fresh avenues for the tourism sector of the respective countries and no one wants to be left behind…………It may be one of those offbeat ways to cash in on tourism, but the governments of many countries are working on renewed strategies to increase their visitor arrivals through the solid presence of Indian students in their region. Although the unfurling of India's prosperity in terms of economic growth has prompted many to return to their home country, the thrill and liberation of studying in a foreign country continues to be enmeshed in the Indian student's psyche. It is true that many have abandoned their dreams of building futures in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia, deeming it far more profitable and enterprising to stay back in India, graduate from an Indian university and build a life and career on this side of the fence. [View Full Article]

How Cambridge wants to lure Indians away from US varsities

LONDON: While the new British universities have benefited from the influx of Indian students, older universities like Cambridge, which has had a long relationship with India, has been losing out to the United States. “We have fewer Indian students coming to us then in the past because our competitors in the USA offer more scholarships and funding, and with their determined efforts to get students more of them are going there instead of coming to us,” ……….lately the name Cambridge is no longer enough, because Indians don’t think of Britain as the first place to go,………. “At undergraduate level we take very few international students, and at postgraduate level we have very high standards, we are a difficult university to get in,…..In order to bring Cambridge back in to the Indian student radar the Vice-Chancellor Professor Alison Richards has planned her first visit to India in January next year. ……….attend the 50th anniversary celebrations ………. to meet the university alumni as well as hold a series of workshops with them and other industrial partners.[View Full Article]

Nepal to Abolish Monarchy

……… Nepal's major political parties have agreed to abolish the world's last Hindu monarchy as part of a deal to bring former Communist rebels back into the government, ……..No timetable has been set for the Communists to rejoin the government.…………..The Communists, who are known as Maoists, ended their decade-long rebellion last year and later joined the country's interim government. ..…………. The move plunged Nepal into a political crisis and threatened its transition to democracy.[View Full Article]

Korean students lured to study in Qingdao

……… "In Korea, everyone knows Confucius, even the little kids. Confucian culture has a deep influence both in China and Korea, …… "There are so many Koreans in Qingdao …… "The rapid development of China's economy makes the relationship between China and South Korea closer. Many Koreans are optimistic about doing business in China," …………The economic cooperation between China and South Korea brings new opportunities to young Koreans. In South Korea, the competition for jobs is fierce. It is not easy to find a good job even for students graduating from Seoul National University. Therefore, many young Koreans are now looking to China for job opportunities,……A growing number of Korean students choose to study in China. Currently, there are many international schools recruiting Korean students in Qingdao, Weihai, Yantai and other cities of Shandong. [View Full Article]