Thursday, 20 January 2011

Historical Documents of the Future #1

No.1: The UK Border Agency Tier 4 Consultation
(essentially a move to stop overseas students - already charged huge fees by the way - from working on any day except weekends, and to pack them off home as soon as they're qualified.)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BDPMGTM

Q.1 Either:
List at least three reasons why you do not believe the sincerity of the first sentence, in the light of the second.

Or:
List at least three reasons why the allegation of problems in the second sentence is undermined by the first sentence.

Q.2 Suggest how the concern about the quality of overseas students doing higher education complements the moves to 'widen participation' by home students in HE to 50%.

Q.3 Would you prefer to be sent home by aeroplane, packet steamer or given a rail-card and put on the ferry to Calais?

Q.4 Explain how sending overseas students home as soon as they are qualified helps to ensure that immigration continues to enrich British society and strengthen its economy.
(Show your working or, preferably, show you're not working)

Q5. Comment on the quality of English in the phrase "sensibly limit the number if migrants coming to the UK while ensuring that the brightest and the best people to the United Kingdom to live, work and study"; and speculate on the educational background of the person(s) who wrote and cleared it for release in a government document.

Q.6. "The Government believes that immigration has enriched our culture and strengthened our economy. However, in recent years, the system has been allowed to enrich our culture and strengthen our economy a bit too much, what with, you know, Johnny Foreigner and his funny-looking skin and odd beliefs about pigs, causing a bit of a brouhaha, that sort of thing."  To what extent would this be a more honest opening paragraph, and why do you think it was not adopted?