David Willetts

Ministers have announced they will cut funding for the UK’s prestigious scholarship programmes for international students.

David Willetts, the Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said:

“Our universities are among the best in the world and have helped to foster close links between Britain and other countries, especially those in the Commonwealth.

“Only a few months ago, when the spotlight was on the Commonwealth summit, Gordon Brown boasted about the sums being spent on UK for international and Commonwealth students. Now, without any consultation, their funding is being slashed.

“Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Commonwealth Scholarships. Ministers should re-open the decision so that the anniversary is a milestone not a death knell.”

ENDS

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Notes to Editors
Chevening Scholarships (est.1983) are for young international postgraduates considered to be future leaders. The aim is to make them familiar with the UK. There are 2,300 places offered in 150 countries.

The Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan (est.1959) is for people in Commonwealth countries who show high intellectual promise. According to the FCO website, alumni ‘include two Heads of State and a Vice-President, three Prime Ministers, a European Commissioner and a range of other key decision makers around the world.’ The scheme is run by DFID but funding for Commonwealth countries not classified as ‘developing’ comes from the FCO. Around 100 scholars a year are funded by the FCO.

1. In a written statement on 13th March 2008, the Government announced a reduction in the support provided to foreign, young postgraduate students wishing to study in the UK. From 2009 onwards, this will mean:
• a reduction of £8 million (from £27 million to £19 million) in funding for the Chevening Scholarship programme; and
• an end to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s £2 million contribution to the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (run by DFID).

2. This announcement came out of the blue without any consultation with universities and contradicts the rhetoric of ministers:

• In the Commonwealth summit in Kampala in November 2007, Gordon Brown boasted about the support that Britain was giving to Commonwealth students: ‘Mr Brown attempted to put education at the heart of the Commonwealth agenda…Britain will also provide more than £50 million by the end of the decade for scholarship and study awards to help young people to go to university.’ (The Times, 24th November 2007)

• The most recent newsletter from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission notes the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides ‘for awards to citizens of those Commonwealth countries that do not qualify for assistance from DFID. It has recently been confirmed that this will remain stable at £2.05 million in the coming year, reflecting Britain’s long-standing commitment that Commonwealth Scholarships should be available to citizens of all member states.’ (Commonwealth Scholarships News, January 2008, p.3)

• In a speech delivered in February 2008, John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said: ‘We’ve developed a fellowship scheme which aims to make the UK the destination of choice for international researchers’. (Speech at the Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, 29th February 2008)

3. According to the ministerial written statement of 23rd March, the reduced spending is designed to allow ‘new priority programmes, principally on climate change.’ But the existing schemes have an excellent record on promoting climate change issues:

• In 2007: a Chevening scholar from Egypt was awarded the ‘BP Future Conservationists Award’; a former Chevening scholar from India was awarded the ‘Best Film for Social Issues’ for a documentary about global warming; and the Association of Bulgarian Chevening Scholars, which includes both the Bulgarian Prime Minister and his Deputy, organised a major international conference on climate change

• The March 2008 Commonwealth Scholarship Commission annual conference was on ‘The Environment and Governance in the Commonwealth’. During the event, Commonwealth Scholars showcased work on the present climate regime and on natural resource policy.

4. The cut in funding has just been condemned by Ron Dearing, the principal author of the Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education. He has described the Foreign Office’s decision as ‘unexpected’ and an ‘astonishing minus’. (Times Higher Education, 8th May 2008, p.23)