Volunteers to teach asylum seekers English

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–A campaign aimed at embarrassing the government into revoking its ban on free English lessons for asylum seekers by mobilising volunteers to teach them is being launched today. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) full story

Academics petition over ‘spying’

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–Academics and students have presented a petition to Downing Street, urging the government to withdraw new immigration rules for overseas students in the UK. From next March, universities will be expected to monitor whether full story

Asylum seekers need free English classes, urges campaign

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–Asylum seekers should be entitled to free English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and not have to wait until their claims for asylum have been approved. This is the principle aim of A Right to a Voice – a campaign being launched in London today, full story

Downturn ‘could hit universities’

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–Universities could be in serious financial trouble if foreign students decide they can no longer afford to study in Britain. Many British universities rely on funds brought in by overseas students. But the British Council, which promotes education overseas, fears the economic downturn may deter international students from coming to the UK. full story

English is the second language at some schools

SOUTHEND, UNITED KINGDOM–More than a third of pupils at some Southend primary schools do not speak English as their first language, a new report has revealed. The study by Southend Council showed 39 per cent of pupils at Porters Grange Primary School are learning English as an additional language. Visitors to the school, which has 450 pupils, will hear 34 different full story

‘More money’ plea to handle foreign school pupils boom

BRACKNELL, UNITED KINGDOM–Teaching in the borough has had to adapt quickly to the sharp rise in the number of pupils who speak English as a second language. Mike Pyle reports on the changing face of the borough. Schools must find new ways of teaching foreign pupils to cope with the huge number of languages now spoken in the borough, according to a new report. full story

Overseas student ID cards begin

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–The fingerprinting of overseas students for biometric identity cards has begun for those extending their visas. It is the first phase of tighter visa restrictions which will eventually affect more than 300,000 people applying to study in the UK each year. The tougher rules are intended to prevent the abuse of student visas as a way of gaining entry to the UK. full story

Obama could draw students away from UK

THE JOURNAL–The election of Barack Obama as US president could threaten British universities’ intake of foreign students, education experts claim. Leading analysts have said that as the negative perceptions of America diminish and US visa full story

Exmouth primary pupils become Devon’s first school interpreters

EXMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM–Six pupils at an Exmouth primary school have become Devon’s first ever young interpreters in a move to welcome children from other countries to their school. The pupils from the Beacon Primary School will full story

Leap in students choosing to study in US

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–The number of overseas students at US universities has shot to a decade high, sparking fears that UK universities will miss out on their share of the market. Almost 624,000 international students enrolled at US universities in 2007-08 – a 7% rise on full story