Amnesty for London Met students, not private universities creaming off taxpayers' money
14 September 2012
UCU today said the government should provide an amnesty to allow the 2,500 plus overseas students facing deportation after London Metropolitan University (LMU) had its licence to teach them revoked to continue their studies at the institution.
Yesterday the government announced a £2m fund to help place the stranded students at other institutions and this morning named the 15 institutions chosen to take them. The union said it had real concerns that a number of for-profit colleges are on the list.
UCU questioned if students who had paid large fees to study at a recognised UK university would be happy to be shifted to a private operator without the infrastructure of publicly-funded universities. The National Union of Students (NUS) warned yesterday that £2m was nowhere near enough to fund the stranded students and has backed UCU's call for an amnesty for the students.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The simple and cheap option here is to grant an amnesty for the students facing deportation after the government revoked LMU's licence to teach overseas students. The £2m fund will not cover all students' costs anyway and we have real concerns that private operators will have easy access to taxpayers' money, without facing the requisite quality checks.'
UCU questioned if students who had paid large fees to study at a recognised UK university would be happy to be shifted to a private operator without the infrastructure of publicly-funded universities. The National Union of Students (NUS) warned yesterday that £2m was nowhere near enough to fund the stranded students and has backed UCU's call for an amnesty for the students.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The simple and cheap option here is to grant an amnesty for the students facing deportation after the government revoked LMU's licence to teach overseas students. The £2m fund will not cover all students' costs anyway and we have real concerns that private operators will have easy access to taxpayers' money, without facing the requisite quality checks.'
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