british universities are in their little shoes. The desertion of the chinese students in the aftermath of the sars coronavirus is undermining the model of funding of higher education uk-based recruitment to all-goes to students from the Middle empire. After a report by the centre of studies, The Institute of Fiscal Studies, a dozen of" alma mater " from across the Channel that are highly valued by the chinese students could close their doors, while others, among the most prestigious, are considered vulnerable. The renowned think-tank in london has refused to publish the list of universities who would be on the brink of bankruptcy.
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The university education in the uk is paid. The national students like the Europeans (until the Brexit, at least) pay an entrance fee of 9 250 pounds (10 260 euros) under a loan system. Entrance fees to feed the coffers of universities which do not depend on the vagaries of public funding. To provide additional revenue, all schools were recruited for mid-upper arm circumference of non-Eu students, starting with those originating in China, including the registration fee are two to three times higher than those paid by their peers.
Since the signing of the agreement between London and Beijing 2015, the number of Chinese student in the uk has exploded. Over the past five years, their number increased from 80 000 to 120 000. To conquer this market attractive, some universities have set up campuses in China. Result, the student body, the chinese have now reached a record at the university of Oxford, the London School of Economics, Imperial College and Liverpool University.
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The sudden disappearance of this windfall caused by the pandemic, combined with the dive of the revenues of the financial investments, has forced the government to assist the sector in the amount of 2.6 billion pounds. The situation is so dramatic, that the 137 universities have requested additional assistance of $ 3.2 billion extra that is highly controversial. "The cause of the problems of british universities is their funding model dangerous based on an influx of substantial and constant international students, especially chinese, and have incurred major cash on the future cost of tuition today, disappeared in smoke," says the Times, reflecting the hostility of the public toward a new assistance.
For universities, the sector of china was very profitable in The United Kingdom, the research effort is funded in part by the public authorities, which exercise a careful control on the conduct and quality of the projects, but they are totally free to enter into agreements of partnership with the private sector to exploit their discoveries commercially.
facts are stubborn, in a context of competition at loggerheads among world universities in order to attract foreign students. The advantage of the English language, " the lingua franca of higher education, plays in full. British universities such as business schools monopolise the top places in Europe for the unavoidable index Shanghai of the most prestigious universities of the world which refers. This type of hit-parade of academic is based on the reputation of the research, which is gaining prestige, influence and funding, rather than on the quality of the education provided is hardly a deterrent in the eyes of the future elites in emerging countries.
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The mass influx of these chinese students was not problem-free. The foreign Affairs committee of the House of commons is alarmed about the risks of industrial espionage in the scientific disciplines and high-technology that they prefer. Moreover, the chinese authorities are accused of gagging students resident in the United Kingdom criticism of the regime through the pressures on their families. Finally, the absence of the chinese students involved in the poisonous climate of bilateral relations, the consequence of the tightness of the screws from China to hong Kong, the participation of Beijing to the construction of the nuclear power plant Hinckey Point and the controversial role of the operator 5G Huawei in the United Kingdom.
For Boris Johnson, the defection of the chinese students comes at the worst time, then the Uk in theory should leave the european Union at 31 December. By dominating the new knowledge economy, the knowledge-based economy, based on the grey matter, the universities are among the strengths of the United Kingdom in order to forge the new future planetary dear to the conservative Prime minister.
