IELTS: Changes will not be implemented anytime soon UK Home responds to signed petition.
Recall that over 60,000 Nigerians recently signed a petition on change.org to stop foreign universities from requesting English proficiency tests which only last for a duration of 2years, after which they are required to pay another fee and sit for the exams again due to been denied student visa by the UK embassy.
THE UK Home Office responded to a request by Ebenezar Wikina, founder of Policy Shapers, an open-source policy platform, which asked the Home Office to provide its criteria for exempting countries from taking the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The UK Home Office however responded that changes will NOT be implemented soon as IELTS has always served as a prerequisitie for Foreign universities to admitt international students.
According to ‘The UK Home’ for international students to be included in a Majority English Speaking Country (MESC), we(The UK Home) must have evidence that more than half of immigrants coming from other country can actually speak English as a first language.”
The UK Home Office, further explained that they do NOT officially recognize 27 Anglophone countries in Africa as English speaking countries except citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and 10 other countries from taking the test.
In their letter: “We rely solely on any public evidence made available such as determination by official censuses and other academic sources. Sometimes we also consult the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to get additional evidence as required. And based on the information we have gathered so far, Nigeria does not meet our requirement.
“We periodically reviewed and update the list of English speaking countries, and if countries like Nigeria are found to meet the requirements,” then we can add it among our exemption list.
Speaking with The ICIR, Mr. Ebenezer stressed the need for stakeholders to meet and decide the next line of action to take in regards to the UK Home Office response. Therefore a stakeholders strategy session will be held next week(bringing together all parties concerned) to plan the next course of action.
