How Europe’s academy is addressing the refugee crisis

The border agency has systematically forced dozens of FE colleges to close by changes in not only the rules under which students can apply for visas, but the very wat in which they are accredited. I am obviously aware that there was wide misuse of the previous system but they have made trading almost impossible for everyone, including many universities, rather than dealing with smaller number of regular transgressors. Further. Many organisations like ours, are accredited by the British Accreditation Council, a regulatory body with over 30 years experience with private FE colleges and charge modest fees for their inspection regimes. They also hold the same international recognitions for their systems as an other English accreditor, Ofsted. The Border agency decided not to use BAC, instead bringing in a little known organisation ISI, without consultation or explanation, at an upfront cost up to 10K. They also had no experience in this field which from my experience, showed. No explanation has been forthcoming from The Border agency even after a request to the home sectretary. Many small organisations again such as ours run a charity alongside their college to attract funds specifically to support the wives of assylum seekers and refugees who have no recourse to public funds. Local charitable organisations had identified that although many heads of family in these groups had some English, their spouses had little or none. Organisations like this could address many gaps in provision, right up to Level 7 at modest cost to government or other funding bodies