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Scotland encourages talented Chinese students to stay
By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-20 06:46
A total of 333 Chinese students in Scotland have successfully applied for a
talent-seeking scheme to work in the region for two years after graduation
without requiring a work permit.
Latest figures show that 1,176 international students have taken advantage of
the "Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme" that was launched last June by the
Scottish Executive and Home Office, revealed the Scottish Government in Beijing
on Saturday.
To date, there have been no failed applications.
The scheme, which enables non-EU students who graduated with a Higher
National Diploma from a Scottish college to stay for two years without work
permits, aims to attract talented youngsters to live and work in Scotland, the
only country within the UK whose population is projected to decline.
Steven Szymoszowskyj, a Fresh Talent Policy development officer with the
Scottish government, said they would further promote the scheme this year,
especially to students from China. Szymoszowskyj was in Beijing at the weekend
attending the 11th China International Education Exhibition Tour.
He said the scheme helps solve the biggest difficulty for international
students who want to stay in Scotland to find jobs with work permits within a
very limited period of time.
Applicants may either leave the country at the end of the period or switch to
one of the specified managed migration schemes.
However, figures show that only 1,176 of an estimated 6,000 eligible students
have so far applied. And the number of Chinese applicants was not big compared
to the total population of Chinese graduates in Scotland.
"Considering the scheme is in its first year, we're satisfied with the
turnout, and are optimistic the number of applicants will increase,"
Szymoszowskyj said.
About 4,000 Chinese students are in Scottish colleges and the number
continues to rise, according to the Scottish government.
Applicants are required to prove only that they are non-EU students and
graduates from Scottish colleges. But the scheme does not guarantee employment,
so applicants will need to compete against other students, including those from
Scotland and other parts of the UK.
Szymoszowskyi said they are trying to get close contacts with successful
applicants, but so far they are not clear how many and in which specific fields
Chinese graduates have been employed.
The two-day education exhibition, which ended yesterday in Beijing, attracted
about 350 colleges from 27 countries. Xi'an, provincial capital of Northwest
China's Shaanxi Province, will be its next stop.
(China Daily 02/20/2006 page2)
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