EDUCATION is considered as the great equalizer: the higher the academic qualification and the credential’s acceptance globally can open the door to better jobs at home or abroad that helps an individual to not only survive, but thrive.

This adage is not necessarily true in a country like the Philippines, where it is not what you know but whom you know that prevails.

A college degree is not enough. The issuing educational institution itself is essential. A college degree from the top 10 universities/colleges almost always guarantees better acceptance and recognition. The top 10 according to UniRanking for 2022 are: the University of the Philippines Diliman, QC; Ateneo de Manila University QC; De La Salle University Manila; University of the Philippines System; University of Santo Tomas, Manila; Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila; University of Cebu, Cebu City; University of the Philippines Manila; Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte; and Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.

Graduates from the top 10 intending to practice their profession overseas must prove that their degree is the equivalent of the degree in the country where they intend to pursue higher or continuing education, work or emigrate.

For example, registered nurses from Our Lady of Fatima still would have to provide evidence of equivalency to be issued a license or to be registered with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Board-AHPRA, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of the UK or the New Zealand Nursing Council.

RNs seeking work or permanent residency in the US must have passed the NCLEX and get the VisaScreen Certificate from the CGFNS.

In some cases, the degree from a top 10 university in the Philippines is already considered the country equivalent, such as engineering graduates from UP applying for the Skilled Recognized Graduate visa (Subclass 476) in Australia.

UK has new monkey wrench

Last week UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman was reportedly planning to cut the period of stay for an overseas student under the post-study visa route. Braverman was born in Harrow, Greater London, “the daughter of Uma (née MootienPillay) and Christie Fernandes, both of Indian origin, who emigrated to Britain in the 1960s from Mauritius and Kenya, respectively.”

The Tory Minister is said to be intending to reform the graduate route visa by removing the ability and authority to stay in the UK for at least two years after completing a course and finding work. In the case of doctoral students, they can stay for three years.

Instead these UK graduates must find a qualified UK employer to change status from student to work visa or leave the UK within six months.

This uncertainty adds to the apprehension of international students to pursue academic programs in the UK. Instead they choose to pursue further education in Canada, Australia or the US.

Even prior to this announcement, international students from the European Union, particularly from Italy, Germany and France, show a sharp decline, the data show. Brexit has been the primary deterrent since EU students are now subject to higher home fees as well as ineligible to apply or qualify for student loans unless they already live in the UK with settled or pre-settled status.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency’s (HESA) report, which was published after Brexit, shows that students paid home fees of just over £9,000 and had student finance available. Fees have risen as high as £38,000 after Brexit.

The immediate result was a dramatic “decrease in the number of students from the EU who enrolled for the first year of an undergraduate or postgraduate course: down from 66,680 the year before Brexit came into force, 2020, to 31,000 in 2021. This was the first year EU students were treated the same as those coming from China or India.”

The cut is deepest at the “undergraduate level, with just 13,155 EU students enrolling in 2021 for the

first year of a primary degree compared with 37,530 the year before, according to official data.”

The loss of students has immediate and long-term effects.

In November 2022, the UK parliament reported that international students contributed £25.9 billion to the economy, which is “quite extraordinary, and are the source of over 60 percent of the UK’s education export earnings.”

Second, the UK will be deprived of highly skilled workers, professionals in the science sector who have been “a vital part of Horizon and other cutting-edge developments in fields such as medical research and astronomy.”

While EU students are now subject to visa conditions as their Philippine counterparts, Filipino UK student visa applicants also would see more competitors for courses.

HESA data shows the number of postgraduate students from the EU went down to 14,000 from 24,000 in 2017-2018 and the number of research students halving to 2,260 from 4,650 over the same period.

Universities could go bankrupt

The move to restrict admission of international students goes all the way to the top.

The government’s own Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s potential plan to clamp down on international students taking “lowquality” degrees could “send many universities over the edge, particularly in poorer regions.”

Universities could go bankrupt if the government limits the number of foreign students in a bid to bring down net migration, an adviser on immigration policy has warned.

Decline in international US student population

Although the number of international students had recovered to almost pre-pandemic levels, the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) total still shows fewer numbers from 1.04 million to 1.08 million in January 2023.

EducationData.org reported a significant decline from 2020 continued even as notable shifts emerge in sending markets (source countries of international student applicants).

– In the 2019-2020 academic year, 1,075,496 international students enrolled in US postsecondary institutions.

– 70.5 percent of international students studying in US post-secondary institutions were from Asia.

– Among Asian international students, 49.1 percent were from China and 25.5 percent were from India.

– Since 1980, enrollment numbers among Asian international students have increased 700.9 percent.

– International students from more than 30 countries studied in the US in 2019-2020.

– DHS reported only 1,698 student admissions from the Philippines in 2021’s Yearbook of Statistics, 2,051 fewer than the 2019 total of 3,749.

Canada visa processing backlogs

Despite a surge of post-Covid student visa applications, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is apprehensive that it will be able to process 360,000 study permit applications between January 1 and July 31, 2022, in addition to another 104,000 applications during the month of August.

IRCC reports a backlog of about 1.5 million temporary resident visa applications (including study permits) — a “near doubling of processing volumes as of October 2021” — which could potentially result in fewer applications approved should students decide to defer their applications due to the delay in issuance of study permits.

Aussie international sector slow to recover

Opening of Australia’s borders as Covid restrictions eased came only toward the end of 2021.

Cognizant of the contributions that temporary and permanent migrants offer, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) was granted a new budget allocation of AU$36 million towards improving visa processing for international students and reducing delays in visa decisions.

DHA’s data on the student visa arrivals for 2022 from the top 10 source countries show fewer admissions than the previous year — 390,080 vs 804,300.

While the government removed caps on the number of hours international students could work in any sector of the Australian economy while studying, this policy applies only to those who are already onshore. The previous policy of allowing students to work only 20 hours per week returns in June this year.

The good news?

The Philippines was ninth in the list of top 10 source countries in 2022. There were 13,310 Filipino students admitted that year. In 2019, student visa applicants from the Philippines were lumped together with other countries.

In Canada, there were 6,330 study permit holders from the Philippines. This year, IRCC data show the total zooming up to 20,155.

More student visa applicants to Canada equals fewer potential skilled workers and professionals to help keep the Philippines competitive.

And here is where the national and individual interests diverge.

Keeping talents and skilled workers in the country require a recognition and appreciation of what the Philippines has.

When professionals, especially nurses, health care workers, IT programmers, engineers and teachers, are neglected — underpaid and overworked — they will seek better opportunities elsewhere since their careers and future are suppressed by corruption and political nepotism at home.