London:
In the last few months, Britain has suspended the licenses of more than 150 colleges in the country. The government says the decision has been taken as these institutions were sham colleges where migrants who wanted to enter and work in Britain could get admission and gain entry into the country on student visas.
With these colleges taken off the Tier-4 list, hundreds of Indian students who have taken loans of lakhs of rupees don't know what their status is - whether they can stay on in Britain and complete their courses, or do they stand to lose both the money they have paid and an academic year.
For students like Varun Chowksi, these are anxious moments as he is scared and struggling to find information. He had come to Britain to study with stars in their eyes about a bright future.
Varun took a loan of Rs 4 lakh in Ahmedabad to do a course in administrative management in London. Barely a few weeks into the course, he heard his college may be shutting down.
"I paid an agent 4500 pounds to get admission here. I came here and got to know that the fee is only 1000 pounds. Ten days ago we learnt that our colleges are not on Tier-4. Our principal is also not telling us what's happening. We want to know what's going on," he said.
Britain's Border and Immigration Agency had suspended the licences of these colleges for being below par educational institutions, and running their college largely as a front for an immigration racket. Most of the college managements we spoke to didn't want to say anything on camera.
But there are some who came to study in these colleges were not genuine students.
"Many students who come here for whom studies are an excuse to come here work, save and send money home. It doesn't matter to them whether they attend college or not," said a student, who doesn't want to be named.
While their future hangs in balance, the government has no answers for what happens to those thousands of students who midway through their courses face the prospect of their colleges shutting down, and with no assurances whether their fees will be refunded. These are the foreign students whose fees for years have been contributing over 5 billion pounds to Britain's education industry.
"I can't assure them refunds etc but they should get advice from UKBA and I am sure they'll be dealt with fairly," said Pat McFadden, Business, Innovation and Skills.
The timing of the government's crackdown on them, many suspect, has to do with the government wanting to shut the door on foreigners as immigration is one of the foremost political issues in election just round the corner.
With these colleges taken off the Tier-4 list, hundreds of Indian students who have taken loans of lakhs of rupees don't know what their status is - whether they can stay on in Britain and complete their courses, or do they stand to lose both the money they have paid and an academic year.
For students like Varun Chowksi, these are anxious moments as he is scared and struggling to find information. He had come to Britain to study with stars in their eyes about a bright future.
Varun took a loan of Rs 4 lakh in Ahmedabad to do a course in administrative management in London. Barely a few weeks into the course, he heard his college may be shutting down.
"I paid an agent 4500 pounds to get admission here. I came here and got to know that the fee is only 1000 pounds. Ten days ago we learnt that our colleges are not on Tier-4. Our principal is also not telling us what's happening. We want to know what's going on," he said.
Britain's Border and Immigration Agency had suspended the licences of these colleges for being below par educational institutions, and running their college largely as a front for an immigration racket. Most of the college managements we spoke to didn't want to say anything on camera.
But there are some who came to study in these colleges were not genuine students.
"Many students who come here for whom studies are an excuse to come here work, save and send money home. It doesn't matter to them whether they attend college or not," said a student, who doesn't want to be named.
While their future hangs in balance, the government has no answers for what happens to those thousands of students who midway through their courses face the prospect of their colleges shutting down, and with no assurances whether their fees will be refunded. These are the foreign students whose fees for years have been contributing over 5 billion pounds to Britain's education industry.
"I can't assure them refunds etc but they should get advice from UKBA and I am sure they'll be dealt with fairly," said Pat McFadden, Business, Innovation and Skills.
The timing of the government's crackdown on them, many suspect, has to do with the government wanting to shut the door on foreigners as immigration is one of the foremost political issues in election just round the corner.
