Key highlights
- Universities Canada has appealed for more investment to attract international students by addressing research funding and graduate scholarships
- In addition, it has appealed for investments to address student mental health issues caused by the pandemic
- This will enable international students from Nigeria to have more financial and mental health support during their time as students
Following the release of the federal budget earlier this week, Universities Canada made a request to Canada’s prime minister for increased funding for research, international education, and student mental health.
The budget, which was unveiled on March 28, focused on enhancing mental health services to make life better for Canadians and international students.
Paul Davidson, president of Universities Canada, wrote to Justin Trudeau to express his “deep disappointment” with the prior lack of funding for research, international education, and student mental health.
The current budget fails to address higher education
The budget, according to HESA President Alex Usher, is the worst for higher education since 1995 because it fell short of its pledge to establish a $500 million fund for students’ mental health.
“Time is also running out to provide direct support to a cohort of students whose mental health has been deeply impacted by the challenges of the pandemic,” Davidson wrote.
What they said
According to Paul Davidson, “Your government’s advisory panel…..recognized that Canada is falling behind the international competition in support for research and recommended that your government increase research funding and boost scholarships for graduate students,” he wrote.
“Without action, we will lose out in the global race for talent and the opportunities of new innovation through discovery research.”
“To maintain its reputation for attracting international students and faculty, Canada must address delays in work and study visa processing”, Davidson continued.
“This week’s budget made no new investments in Canada’s immigration system to address these challenges,” he said.
International education’s contribution to Canada’s economy
According to Paul Davidson, “International education brings more than $22 billion to the Canadian economy and attracts top talent to study and work here. It is short-sighted to put this at risk by failing to adequately fund Canada’s struggling immigration system.”
Canada’s global competitors “are investing heavily to attract and retain top talent and what is clear from this budget is that Canada is not”, he added.
Higher Education Strategy Associates highlighted that there was “no movement whatsoever on the long-frozen value of graduate/postdoc scholarships, which places Canadian universities at an enormous disadvantage when competing for international talent”.
What this means for international students
The high level of stress among international students especially Nigerian students usually in the area of financial difficulties, changes in environment and culture, weather changes, uncertainties about the academic programs, changes in teaching/learning format), personal health, and lack of social support are predicted to have more negative mental health impacts.
The impact of the pandemic, coupled with the high level of inflation leading to financial difficulties has led many Nigerian students in the UK to face difficulties that could be attributed to a mental health breakdown.
More investments given to mental health in UK’s budget, as well as scholarship support, will be seen as a welcome development and can further boost international education and retain top talent in the UK.