Anger over UK language law

[Al-khiyal]

[Al-khiyal]

English language schools win visa reprieve

July 9, 2010 -- (Reuters) - English language schools have won a High Court battle against tighter visa regulations for foreign students introduced by the Labour government to clamp down on illegal immigration. English UK, which represents 440 schools and colleges across Britain, believes Friday's ruling has saved an estimated "3,000 jobs and over 600 million pounds a year in foreign earnings." On Friday, High Court judge David Foskett referred the matter back to Parliament and said the restrictions had been achieved through altering guidelines where there should have been a formal change to the rules, Britain's Press Association reported.

"This ruling confirms that Parliament must be included in decisions which will significantly change the immigration system," said English UK's legal representative Nichola Carter. Tony Milns, chief executive of English UK, said Friday's judgement offered schools and colleges "some immediate help since many of them faced losing a damaging number of students this summer and autumn." The changes made by the former government in March meant that overseas students had to had to have a good standard of English before they could come to the UK to learn the language."It's clearly absurd requiring students to know English before they come here to study it," Milns said, setting out his argument before the judgement was announced.

Students come from countries such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Turkey, Japan, Venezuela and Vietnam to study in Britain, in schools mainly based in Brighton, Bournemouth, Oxford, Cambridge and London. The coalition government will now have to decide whether or not to pursue similar changes, this time putting proposals for changes to the immigration rules before Parliament. Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary who introduced the new regulations, said he had acted in response to concerns about illegal immigration and radicalisation of students at UK institutions. He had also aimed to prevent scams involving applications from women "who had long ceased education" trying to bring dependent husbands into the country.