People are rightly outraged at the UK Open University has a discriminatory ban on Cuban students.
Around 1200 people have now written directly to their MPs on
this matter and staff at the OU are raising the issue with their management. A
letter was published in the Guardian today and various media are picking
up the story.
The lecturers’ union UCU has written to the Open University
vice-chancellor Peter Horrocks and universities minister Jo Johnson calling for
the ban to be overturned. Other trade unions look set to follow.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: 'There is no
justification for not accepting Cuban students on a course, and any move to
stop anyone would be directly at odds with current UK government policy on
cooperating with Cuba on higher education issues, particularly around teaching
English.
Most universities in Britain publish clear Equal Opportunity
policies that ban discrimination against different students based on race or
nationality. For example, Aberdeen University state that
‘Applications for admission to all degrees are considered
without regard to any inappropriate distinction eg ethnicity or national
origin, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender, religious or
political beliefs, marital status or socio-economic background.’
The University of Birmingham go further and their web site
states that
'The University has a long tradition of welcoming students from
Cuba, we currently have a growing number of students at Birmingham, studying a
range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.’
Even the UK Government Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
encourages and funds Cuban students to study here via the Chevening scholars
scheme.
CSC Director Rob Miller said, ‘The fact is that the Open
University policy is discriminatory and can not be justified. The OU are
putting United States’ ‘Cold War’ policies over and above UK equalities law.
They are ‘kowtowing’ to the United States and its extraterritorial
blockade legislation. The UK Government has voted every year at the United
Nations against the Blockade, in doing so it has voted against such threats to
UK sovereignty from an overseas Government.
It is high time for the British Government to intervene and put
a stop to this embarrassing policy by the publicly funded Open University. In
doing so they would make clear that the UK is not just an infant partner of the
United States and that they will not join in with the ridiculous antics of
Donald Trump and his Blockade of Cuba.’
More information and articles:
- Take action here
- UCU statement here
- The Morning Star article here
- The Guardian letter here
- Telesur article here
- Aberdeen University admissions policy here
- Birmingham University policy here