Following a “malicious cyber incident” earlier this year that rendered the university’s previous monitoring system inoperable, the institution was forced to implement a new temporary system. Students with Tier 4 visas are required by the system to check in twice a week at their on-campus check-in location.
While domestic students are not obliged to do so, international students must additionally complete online check-ins during class. Manchester claims that a new solution will be introduced in September 2024. A motion to oppose the monitoring and control of Tier 4 visa holders’ attendance was approved by the University and College Union branch at the University of Manchester on October 18. Approximately 95% of those present voted in favor of the UMUCU motion.
In a statement, the UMUCU stated, “We have witnessed an increase in border monitoring policies within the university over the 10 years since the implementation of the hostile environment policy, which is eroding our ability to provide safe pastoral care and foster critical pedagogy for our international study body.”
According to the UMUCU, adding more in-person checks outside of classrooms and scanning QR codes each time a class is in session “further creates a discriminatory, stigmatising environment that advances the hostile environment within this University” for international students with Tier 4 visas.
Such disparate treatment of employees or students based on their citizenship, nationality, or place of origin may be considered racial discrimination. The Equality Act of 2010 states that this is illegal,” UMUCU continued.