The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE University of the Bahamas yesterday said it requires all applicants to present proof of nationality, residency and academic qualifications when applying for enrolment.

The institution was responding to claims raised by Rights Bahamas over its written notification to non-Bahamian students, asking that they provide all essential immigration documents when applying for enrolment.

UB said all prospective students are treated equally with respect to its current admissions procedures, citing that it is not the institution’s practice or intent to discriminate against any student or member of the academic community.

“All applicants, without exception, are required to present proof of nationality, residency and academic qualifications,” a statement from UB said,

“Certification of a student’s identifying information can be produced in multiple forms: by presentation of a passport, a belonger’s permit, a right to reside card, spousal permit or a work permit. UB’s full admissions criteria are available online,” it added.

The statement continued: “UB is committed to internalisation and diversity. Students represent 14 other countries on our campuses, spanning several continents and regions.

“The majority of international students are from Jamaica, followed by the United States, Guyana and Haiti. Others come from Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Dominica, France, Japan, Kenya, Nauru, Nigeria and Philippines.

“International students add to the diversity and robustness of our academic community; many of them go on to become luminaries in their respective fields of endeavour,” the statement added.

Rights Bahamas in a statement of its own last Friday, called into question UB’s decision to allegedly turn away “a number of highly qualified and intelligent students” from the University of the Bahamas in recent semesters.

The human rights organisation suggested that those students have been told that without proof of status, they would not qualify to continue their tertiary education with the University. It appeared the group was talking about persons born in the Bahamas to foreign parents who do not have Bahamian citizenship.

In a press statement on Friday, chairman of Rights Bahamas’ Education Committee, Dawrin Thompson said the organisation is “saddened” by the cases being brought to its attention.

In addition to raising issue with the process, insisting that students who face the dilemma often put their lives at a “standstill” in pursuit of tertiary level studies both abroad and here at home, Mr Thompson said the struggle with the archaic policies and procedures endured to obtain the relevant documents, can take months, and sometimes, years to complete.

“The average turnaround time for documents of this nature from governmental agencies is upwards of five or more years,” he noted in his statement.

“The students that are affected by these egregious policies have graduated at the top of their respective secondary institutions, and have received countless recommendations, awards, and scholarly support.

“It is a shame that the rarity of their talent and intellectual prowess is belittled by a crippled system. Future university lecturers, societal leaders, innovationists, engineers, technologists, and doctors are being held back in a fashion that can only be considered petty.”

He continued: “We call on the University of the Bahamas to rise above the status quo, to break the walls that block the minds of the youth that wish to further their standing in the world, release the choke hold that is placed on our young people, and change the policies that have crippled our societies’ greatest possibilities.”

The statement went on to urge all relevant government agencies to correct those policies that “make being a Bahamian hard.”

“Decrease the time that it takes to receive these documents, and allow the students affected, the ability to get in school, get their education, and leave the University of the Bahamas with the tools to advance this country further.

“It is only right that they receive this.

“We beg our students to come back from International schools all the time.

“We must show them why it is beneficial to do so. If not, we will lose the greatest of us for absolutely no reason at all.”