No fewer than 15 universities in the United Kingdom have announced plans to sack some workers and even stop running some courses because of the sharp decline in enrolment by foreign students including Nigerians. According to a report by University World News, the sharp decline in foreign students enrolment was particularly felt at the postgraduate level and the decision to downsize is targeted mainly at those running courses at that level. The development is also connected to the decision by the Uk government to reduce inflow of international students, as some concessions given them at that level have been whittled down. Also, there are concerns that the high cost of living being experienced globally is also negatively affecting enrolment of foreign students at the undergraduate level. From the prestigious Russell Group Universities to mid-tier universities and Scottish institutions, the current situation is not sparing most universities.
Robert Gordon University (RGU) recently introduced a voluntary severance scheme in the face of staff redundancy due to its financial difficulties as a result of a notable decline in international student enrolments, a consequence of post-Brexit alterations in UK immigration policies. RGU cited escalating cost pressures and a considerable reduction in public funding as contributing factors. With the free fall of the Naira against major currencies that started mid last year, the British Council in Nigeria, hiked the cost of International English Language Testing System examinations. It is a test a citizen of another country who wants to relocate to the UK to work or study has to take. The cost of the test was between N80,000 and N90,000 before it was increased to N107,500 last September. The forex issue in the country also led some admission seekers to start looking else.
“Dear valued Test Taker, We would like to inform you that effective from 1 September 2023, there will be a price increase for IELTS tests offered by the British Council. The new prices will be NGN 107,500 for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, NGN 116.000 for UK Visas and Immigration and NGN 104,000 for Life Skills. The new prices are necessary to sustain the high-quality of standards for your testing experience.” In the 2020-21 academic year, 21,305 Nigerian students were enrolled in UK universities. The figure rose to 58,791, before it crashed to 42,164 in 2023. The cost of sponsorship, COS, has also gone up. A student studying at the undergraduate level in inner London is expected to have £1,334 as COS per month, while outside London, it is £1,015 monthly. For a postgraduate student, it is £2,530 per month in London and £2,030 monthly outside London. There are reports of Nigerian students being deregistered by some British universities over new immigration law. They are also being advised to leave the country by their respective institutions, according to Benjamin Kuti, the president of the Nigerians in UK Community (NIUK) in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account recently. Kuti, fondly known as Oluomo took to his X account to announce the unfortunate development.
He wrote: “So many universities have deregistered students in the UK and advised them to leave the country.” Reacting to the development an X user @kelvinstrangee wrote “Oluomo this is the case of my cousin in Portsmouth. Is there any visa they can be on for now till he gets sponsorship? He certainly doesn’t want to go back to Nigeria.” Another X user, @Omoiyaoluko wrote: “With all the new policies this is a great dilemma I must say, cos a recent policy states that students must “complete their studies” before been allowed to change their status, I really do wish that your cousin finds help, cos it’s really not a good tale to tell, I know!!” @adexmoveec however, in his reaction asked: “When does that mean they can’t work part time while studying? Oluomo, while responding to some reactions wrote: “Sure they are eligible to work part time while studying, provided they’re still enrolled in the school, cos if they are not enrolled their right to work will be cancelled which will make them ineligible to work.” Meanwhile, as Nigerian students are looking towards the United States and Canada among other countries to study, as the UK tightens the noose on foreign students, the US is getting more patronage.
According to The Cable, ApplyBoard, the Canadian educational company, said more African students were awarded F1 visas in 2022 than ever before, citing data from the US Department of State. F1 visa is usually issued to those pursuing an academic programme or seeking a full-time degree at a US institution. “Nigeria and Ghana will be particularly interesting to watch over the next couple of years – both were issued the most student visas in their histories in 2022,” the report said. As the US grows in popularity among African and Indian students, the short-term trade-off may be slightly lower approval rates. But the long-term benefits could help fast-track the recovery of the US international education sector.” The Voice of America reported that the number of visas issued to students from Africa in 2022 surpassed 30,700 – an increase from 23,229 recorded in the 2021 fiscal year. The data also showed that the most visas issued to students from Africa in 2018 stood at 21,037.
The US issued 20,165 student visas to Africa in 2019 while the figure dropped to 7,333 in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Over 411,000 student visas were issued by the US in 2022, a 15 per cent increase from that of 2021 which had 357,839. The 2022 figure is estimated to be the highest number of student visas recorded globally since 2017. Despite the hike, the US visa approval rates dropped to 65 per cent amid the rising volume of applications. However, Canada is considering limiting the number of international student visas, including Nigeria, as one of the options to tackle its housing shortages. According to Reuters, this was revealed by Sean Fraser, Canada’s new minister for housing, infrastructure, and communities, while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet retreat in the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island.
He said the sharp rise in the number of students was putting pronounced pressure on some housing markets. “I think that is one of the options we should consider. The government has not yet made a decision,” he added. According to Fraser, the country had temporary immigration programmes that were never designed to see such explosive growth in such a short period. Rentas.ca reported that the growing number of students entering Canada has added “further upward pressure” on rents. It said the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Canada rose to CA$2,078 in July. The priciest flats were in Vancouver, with one-bedroom accommodation averaging CA$ 3000. Over the past few years, Canada has become a popular destination for international students due to its immigration-friendly policies. Last year, the Canadian federal government announced an aggressive plan to take in 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025, with almost 1.5 million new immigrants coming to the country over the next three years. Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows that the number of study permits issued to Nigerians by Canada rose by 17.8 per cent to 16,195 as of December 31, 2022, from 13,745 in the same period of 2021. The number of study permits also places Nigeria fifth on the top source countries of new international students that entered Canada.
The federal government is, however, expressing confidence that the series of steps and policies being taken would eventually make more Nigerians stay at home to study. The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, during a virtual meeting he held with stakeholders in the education sector yesterday, exuded confidence that the government was on the right track to reposition the sector and move it forward. He listed the Student Loan Scheme introduced by the Bola Tinubu administration as a game changer in the university system. “We have remodeled the education policy which captures all the ingredients that will make the nation’s education sector stand at par with that of advanced nations. We have put all the measures in place to reposition the nation’s education sector. By the time we’re done, private schools will run out of business and scale down amounts they’re charging our students. The Student Loan Scheme will soon be formally inaugurated and the craze to go abroad to study will also reduce. Cost of acquiring tertiary education will not be a barrier to anybody. We are on course.”
