Hi,
You may have wondered why there was no response from me when this issue was
raised last month; I've been away from the University and am only just
catching up on dis-forum. This is a thorny issue. The Government is
expecting universities to pick up the tab for international students and
others who are not entitled to DSA, with no extra resources being made
available for these groups. Perhaps if we administered DSAs, ie a similar
funding sytem to that in FE, it would be fairer to expect us to pay.
Our statement was, of course, vetted by our Legal Office and the
International Office. We have tried to say that we will provide support
where we can, but it would be disingenuous to suggest that any HEI can
always meet the needs of all students, regardless of cost. There are also
factors outside our control, such as Social Services being under no legal
obligation to assess, provide or pay for care packages for people who are
not UK residents.
We attract students from all over the world and have 4,000 international
students. I recently did a costing for one enquirer who needed substantial
academic and personal care support; the latter alone was between £1,000 &
£1,800 per week. If he was here for 40 weeks a year that's £40,000-£72,000
pa x 3 years = £120,000 - £216,000 to undertake a 3 year degree course, for
personal care alone, for one student. I can't think many universities have
that much money lying around! It is arguable whether this is a 'reasonable
adjustment'.
Good one for a Friday afternoon!!
Sue Green
Disability Co-ordinator
The University of Birmingham
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