[Maths-Education] Please support my petition and send it on to others

[Toni Beardon]

Dear Friends,

I just created the petition "Change UK immigration practices that 
deter talented international students" and I want to ask if you could 
add your name too.

I did this because yesterday, some friends of ours from Chennai met 
with the unpleasant face of UK immigration practices. Mandira, age 
17, was on her way to the UK to do a 2 week course for High School 
students in Cambridge that starts on Sunday. She was with her mother 
and younger sister, and they also planned to visit some other 
universities because Mandira wants to apply to UK universities to 
study medicine starting in September 2015. They were turned back and 
put on a plane back to India because, although Mandira has permanent 
residency in the UK she has not been in the UK for over 2 years. This 
was probably a mistake on the part of some officious individual but 
never-the-less it is typical.

Having just seen a reference in the LMS newsletter I had just read 
the House of Lords Science and Technology report (April 2014) 
http://tinyurl.com/nbqbvca that recommends a change in immigration 
practices relating to foreign students and states "When we really 
need to send the message that international STEM students will get a 
warm welcome in the UK, they're getting the cold shoulder and heading 
elsewhere. We've seen over the last few years how international 
student numbers have fallen dramatically, in particular from India. 
As a result we're missing out on the talent, the economic and 
cultural contribution that international students bring when they 
come here to study, and our competitors are reaping the rewards."

This campaign means a lot to me and the more support we can get 
behind it, the better chance we have of succeeding. You can read more 
and sign the petition here:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/change-uk-immigration-practices-that-deter-talented-international-students

Thank you!

Toni

P.S. Can you also take a moment to share the petition with others? 
It's really easy - all you need to do is forward this email or share 
this link on Facebook or Twitter:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/change-uk-immigration-practices-that-deter-talented-international-students


-- 
Toni Beardon OBE

Retired from University of Cambridge NRICH/MMP http://mmp.maths.org

& African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Schools Enrichment 
Centre (AIMSSEC) http://aimssec.aims.ac.za

Tel: +(44) 7714 357042  &  +(27) 7230 88186

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