В Англия разследват защо толкова много българи искат стипендии
Министри са призовали за по-стриктни проверки на хората, подаващи молбите за стипендии.
Нарастващият брой на румънски и български студенти, които кандидатстват за стипендии за учене в Англия, ще бъде разследван от властите, пише британският в. „Дейли мейл“ (DailyMail.co.uk).
Министри са призовали за по-стриктни проверки на хората, подаващи молбите за стипендии. Те се опасяват, че кандидатите може и да не отговарят на критериите. В страната все повече колежи са изправени пред финансова криза след голям приток на студенти. Министърът, отговарящ за университетите, Дейвид Уилът съобщи днес, че правителството е било принудено да спре някои частни колежи да приемат още студенти. Според сегашните правила гражданите на страните от ЕС могат да кандидатстват за заеми, за да покриват разходите си за обучение в Англия. Но само европейски граждани, които са живели във Великобритания три години, могат да кандидатстват, за да получат студентски стипендии.
Във ведомството на Уилът се зараждат съмнения, че ограниченията на пазара на труда за румънци и българи принуждават много студенти от тези страни да кандидатстват за стипендии, въпреки че не отговарят на изискванията, просто защото не могат да финансират обучението си чрез работа.
Funding crisis for colleges as ministers warn of ‘significant increase’ in Romanians and Bulgarians applying for grants
- Universities minister orders tougher checks on applications
- David Willetts also tells 23 colleges to cut the number of students recruited
- Number of students enrolling rises from 13,000 to 30,000 in two years
A surge in Romanian and Bulgarian students applying for grants to study in England is to be investigated by officials.Ministers have demanded tougher checks of the applications, amid fears they may not fulfil the criteria.Further education colleges already face a financial crisis after seeing a large influx of students.in applications from Bulgaria and Romania.He also said the Government had been forced to stop some private colleges taking on any more students for Higher National Certificates (HNCs) or Higher National Diplomas (HNDs).It follows concerns about thousands of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants coming to the United Kingdom to work when rules preventing them from taking a job in the UK are lifted at the end of the year.Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 but restrictions – known as transitional arrangements – were introduced to stop workers from both countries flooding the UK labour market.However, there are concerns within Mr Willetts’ department these restrictions are forcing many students from the countries to apply for grants which they may not be entitled to because they cannot finance their studies by working.Under the current rules, all European Union citizens are allowed to apply for a loan to cover the cost of their tuition fees.This means that while Bulgaria and Romanian are not allowed to work in the UK, they are perfectly entitled to study here.But only EU citizens who have lived in the UK for three years are entitled to student support grants in England to cover their living expenses while they study.Mr Willetts said he was now investigating the problem after a significant increase in the number of students from both countries applying for full student support.
In a written ministerial statement to MPs, he said: ‘We identified that there had been a significant increase in the number of Bulgarian and Romanian students applying for full student support in England this year.‘This support is usually only available to EU citizens resident in the UK for a minimum of three years. We have asked each of these students to supply additional information to support their applications for maintenance, before any further public funding is made available to them or to their institutions.‘We have asked all EU citizens applying for maintenance support in England to supply this additional information.’
Mr Willetts added that he has written to 23 colleges which are expanding most rapidly to tell them not to take any more students for the courses as there had been a rapid increase in the numbers applying for loans.He said: ‘The number of English and EU students claiming support at (private colleges) has grown from 13,000 in 2011/12 to 30,000 in 2012/13, and the total public expenditure on these students has risen from £60 million to £175 million.‘This is 4 per cent of the total student support budget. Growth has been particularly concentrated among students studying for Higher National Certificates and the Higher National Diplomas.