London, May 31, GNA – Britain’s new visa system that the government says is aimed at recruiting “talented graduates in areas such as science, engineering and research from internationally renowned universities” has been criticised for not including any African tertiary education institution on the list of universities.

Under the new points-based immigration policy announced on May 30, a would-be immigrant applying through this rule should have received an MA or PhD during the last five years from universities that feature on the list of the top 50 included in at least two of the following rankings: Times Higher Education World University rankings; Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings; and The Academic Ranking of the World Universities.

The initial reaction to the announcement by British Home Secretary Priti Patel has been critical of the system.

Amina Ahmed El-Imam at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria told the British magazine, New Scientist: “These ratings are based on criteria that favour universities, which have been around for hundreds of years and have access to a lot of funding.”

Christopher Trisos, the Director and Senior Researcher at the University of Cape Town, told the BBC that the new scheme was a “deeply inequitable approach” because it excluded universities from Africa, South Asia and Latin America.

He said that if Britain wanted to tackle challenges such as climate change, “then they need to be recognising diverse skills and in-depth knowledge held by many graduates from developing countries”.

Of the 50 universities on the list, 20 are in the US and they include Harvard and Yale.

The rest are from Canada, Europe, China, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

Professor Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, told the BBC: “The ranking system, I think, is really not the right way to be choosing the best people.”

She pointed out that “each ranking has different universities on [its] lists”.

Caroline Lucas, a British MP who is a member of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said: “Giving preferential treatment to someone who scraped through Harvard, over someone at the top of their class from another institution or someone without a degree who can help address Britain’s acute labour shortages, betrays both astounding snobbery and a failure to understand the serious workforce challenges facing the UK.”

However, an African academic at a university in the UK told the GNA that excluding African universities from the visa list did not mean that Africans who had qualified from the universities on the list would not be eligible to apply for the new High Potential Individual route.

“If an African who gets his or her first degree from an African institution, and subsequently receives post-graduate qualifications from the universities on the British government’s list, they are fully entitled to apply if they can prove that they have the ‘exceptional talents’ that the UK is looking for.

“What is important here is for African governments to increase their support for education in their countries to make sure that their universities are able to compete internationally.

“After all, in the early years after independence, many African universities held their own in the global academic league table.”

As the UK tries to realign its position globally since exiting the European Union on January 31, 2020, the British government has been fishing far and wide to bringing in the high skills and talent the country and businesses need.

Home Secretary Patel said: “The visa forms part of a series of changes to the immigration system after leaving the EU to restore control over our borders, so that the UK can welcome people based on the skills they have to offer and the contribution they can make, not where they come from.

“The new points-based system will ensure that the UK is open to business and continues to be at the forefront of innovation.”

Last year, more than one million foreigners were allowed to stay in the UK via the points-based system.

Nigeria was fourth on the list of the biggest recipients of work visas with 15,000 issued.

India topped the list with 87,000 visas.

Under the new High Potential Individual regime, successful applicants will be given a two-year work visa (three-year for those with a PhD) and will be allowed to move into other long-term employment routes.

GNA

London, May 31, GNA – Britain’s new visa system that the government says is aimed at recruiting “talented graduates in areas such as science, engineering and research from internationally renowned universities” has been criticised for not including any African tertiary education institution on the list of universities.

Under the new points-based immigration policy announced on May 30, a would-be immigrant applying through this rule should have received an MA or PhD during the last five years from universities that feature on the list of the top 50 included in at least two of the following rankings: Times Higher Education World University rankings; Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings; and The Academic Ranking of the World Universities.

The initial reaction to the announcement by British Home Secretary Priti Patel has been critical of the system.

Amina Ahmed El-Imam at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria told the British magazine, New Scientist: “These ratings are based on criteria that favour universities, which have been around for hundreds of years and have access to a lot of funding.”

Christopher Trisos, the Director and Senior Researcher at the University of Cape Town, told the BBC that the new scheme was a “deeply inequitable approach” because it excluded universities from Africa, South Asia and Latin America.

He said that if Britain wanted to tackle challenges such as climate change, “then they need to be recognising diverse skills and in-depth knowledge held by many graduates from developing countries”.

Of the 50 universities on the list, 20 are in the US and they include Harvard and Yale.

The rest are from Canada, Europe, China, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

Professor Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, told the BBC: “The ranking system, I think, is really not the right way to be choosing the best people.”

She pointed out that “each ranking has different universities on [its] lists”.

Caroline Lucas, a British MP who is a member of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said: “Giving preferential treatment to someone who scraped through Harvard, over someone at the top of their class from another institution or someone without a degree who can help address Britain’s acute labour shortages, betrays both astounding snobbery and a failure to understand the serious workforce challenges facing the UK.”

However, an African academic at a university in the UK told the GNA that excluding African universities from the visa list did not mean that Africans who had qualified from the universities on the list would not be eligible to apply for the new High Potential Individual route.

“If an African who gets his or her first degree from an African institution, and subsequently receives post-graduate qualifications from the universities on the British government’s list, they are fully entitled to apply if they can prove that they have the ‘exceptional talents’ that the UK is looking for.

“What is important here is for African governments to increase their support for education in their countries to make sure that their universities are able to compete internationally.

“After all, in the early years after independence, many African universities held their own in the global academic league table.”

As the UK tries to realign its position globally since exiting the European Union on January 31, 2020, the British government has been fishing far and wide to bringing in the high skills and talent the country and businesses need.

Home Secretary Patel said: “The visa forms part of a series of changes to the immigration system after leaving the EU to restore control over our borders, so that the UK can welcome people based on the skills they have to offer and the contribution they can make, not where they come from.

“The new points-based system will ensure that the UK is open to business and continues to be at the forefront of innovation.”

Last year, more than one million foreigners were allowed to stay in the UK via the points-based system.

Nigeria was fourth on the list of the biggest recipients of work visas with 15,000 issued.

India topped the list with 87,000 visas.

Under the new High Potential Individual regime, successful applicants will be given a two-year work visa (three-year for those with a PhD) and will be allowed to move into other long-term employment routes.

GNA

London, May 31, GNA – Britain’s new visa system that the government says is aimed at recruiting “talented graduates in areas such as science, engineering and research from internationally renowned universities” has been criticised for not including any African tertiary education institution on the list of universities.

Under the new points-based immigration policy announced on May 30, a would-be immigrant applying through this rule should have received an MA or PhD during the last five years from universities that feature on the list of the top 50 included in at least two of the following rankings: Times Higher Education World University rankings; Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings; and The Academic Ranking of the World Universities.

The initial reaction to the announcement by British Home Secretary Priti Patel has been critical of the system.

Amina Ahmed El-Imam at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria told the British magazine, New Scientist: “These ratings are based on criteria that favour universities, which have been around for hundreds of years and have access to a lot of funding.”

Christopher Trisos, the Director and Senior Researcher at the University of Cape Town, told the BBC that the new scheme was a “deeply inequitable approach” because it excluded universities from Africa, South Asia and Latin America.

He said that if Britain wanted to tackle challenges such as climate change, “then they need to be recognising diverse skills and in-depth knowledge held by many graduates from developing countries”.

Of the 50 universities on the list, 20 are in the US and they include Harvard and Yale.

The rest are from Canada, Europe, China, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

Professor Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, told the BBC: “The ranking system, I think, is really not the right way to be choosing the best people.”

She pointed out that “each ranking has different universities on [its] lists”.

Caroline Lucas, a British MP who is a member of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said: “Giving preferential treatment to someone who scraped through Harvard, over someone at the top of their class from another institution or someone without a degree who can help address Britain’s acute labour shortages, betrays both astounding snobbery and a failure to understand the serious workforce challenges facing the UK.”

However, an African academic at a university in the UK told the GNA that excluding African universities from the visa list did not mean that Africans who had qualified from the universities on the list would not be eligible to apply for the new High Potential Individual route.

“If an African who gets his or her first degree from an African institution, and subsequently receives post-graduate qualifications from the universities on the British government’s list, they are fully entitled to apply if they can prove that they have the ‘exceptional talents’ that the UK is looking for.

“What is important here is for African governments to increase their support for education in their countries to make sure that their universities are able to compete internationally.

“After all, in the early years after independence, many African universities held their own in the global academic league table.”

As the UK tries to realign its position globally since exiting the European Union on January 31, 2020, the British government has been fishing far and wide to bringing in the high skills and talent the country and businesses need.

Home Secretary Patel said: “The visa forms part of a series of changes to the immigration system after leaving the EU to restore control over our borders, so that the UK can welcome people based on the skills they have to offer and the contribution they can make, not where they come from.

“The new points-based system will ensure that the UK is open to business and continues to be at the forefront of innovation.”

Last year, more than one million foreigners were allowed to stay in the UK via the points-based system.

Nigeria was fourth on the list of the biggest recipients of work visas with 15,000 issued.

India topped the list with 87,000 visas.

Under the new High Potential Individual regime, successful applicants will be given a two-year work visa (three-year for those with a PhD) and will be allowed to move into other long-term employment routes.

GNA