Page 59 - Education World September 2021

government are deliberately trying to conceal the country’s
role in the Algerian war of independence.
Historians say that for the past two years, they have had
increasing difficulty gaining access to archives because of a
government order that allowed relevant ministries to sign
off (postpone) declassification.
This has overridden a law that opens documents up auto-
matically after a certain time has elapsed — 50 years where
documents touch on national security, for example. “It has
created a huge problem,” says Raphaelle Branche, presi-
dent of France’s Association of Contemporary Historians in
Higher Education and Research. “Everything was stopped.”
That instruction was overturned earlier in July by
France’s Council of State, one of the country’s top courts,
which ruled that the government had illegally overridden Foreign students in the UK: red list system hurdle
the law. But historians are worried that a new Bill, now
working its way through the legislative process, will rep- focused on the international student issue to address the
licate some of these restrictions and scrap automatic re- looming problem. One potential solution to expand capacity
lease of documents, allowing the state to keep them secret could be for universities to use their own accommodation
indefinitely. to quarantine students, but that would necessitate changes
Historians are frustrated by what they see as a contra- in government regulations.
diction on part of the government. France’s president Em- Comments Vivienne Stern, director of Universities UK
manuel Macron, admitted earlier this year that the country International (UUK): “There will be something like 100,000
had tortured and murdered a prominent Algerian indepen- students (coming to the UK from red-list countries) be-
dence leader, and he vowed to open up archives to reveal tween the beginning of summer and mid-October — that’s
more about the conflict. if the red list stays as it is. So there’s a clear (quarantine)
Yet restrictions on archival access are having the oppo- capacity problem.”
site effect, critics say. “It makes things impossible for me,” The Westminster government has introduced a tempo-
says Denis Peschanski, a research director at France’s Na- rary concession allowing universities, normally required
tional Centre for Scientific Research, of the restrictions in to monitor the in-person attendance of international stu-
place in recent years. He is one of 15 prominent historians dents under visa sponsorship rules, “to provide tuition via
who have signed an open letter to the government decrying distance learning for international students studying over-
the proposed law, which they say will close most intelligence seas”. It has since extended that concession to April 2022.
service archives without a time limit. But international students are likely to be dismayed if a
lack of quarantine beds forces them into online education
UNITED KINGDOM at home. Meanwhile in Scotland, the use of cruise ships to
Quarantine capacity problem quarantine international students is under consideration
by the government.
THE ARRIVAL IN THE UK OF A POTENTIAL
100,000 international students from Covid red- Bumper pay indignation
list countries in the coming months presents a
“clear quarantine-capacity problem” that could “over- OR-PROFIT COLLEGES IN THE UK GAVE THEIR
whelm” the system, with allowing universities to use their leaders huge pay packages as the coronavirus pan-
own accommodation for quarantine one possible solution Fdemic hit. Analysis of financial accounts published by
discussed in the sector. three of Britain’s largest private higher education providers
Travellers with residence rights in the UK arriving from — the London School of Science and Technology (LSST),
red-list countries are required to quarantine for 10 full days BPP University and BIMM Institute — indicates that last
in a managed quarantine hotel. With nations such as In- year because of generous awards of pay, dividends and com-
dia and now Indonesia on the red list, overseas students pany shares their directors earned more than some of the
could pose a problem in terms of available quarantine hotel UK’s highest paid university vice chancellors.
rooms — reported to be a maximum of 28,000 when the At the LSST, a college chain with seven campuses across
red-list system was launched in February, but potentially London, Luton and Birmingham, directors Syed and Has-
lower now. snain Zaidi received £920,000 (Rs.9.43 crore) in 2019-20,
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is re- of which £650,000 was dividends and £270,000 remunera-
ported to have recently set up a managed quarantine board tion. In the previous two years, Mr. and Mrs. Zaidi received

SEPTEMBER 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 59