UK govt plans longer working hours for Nigerian students, others

Wale Elegbede

United Kingdom Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is considering plans to allow students from Nigeria and other countries who come to British universities from overseas to do more paid work around their studies, with more hours and a wider range of jobs on offer.

The Times reported that the government is hoping to use British and overseas students to deal with shortages in areas such as hospitality and retail.

Currently, Nigerian students and other overseas students in the UK numbering 680,000 are limited to 20 hours of paid work a week during term time, a limit designed to prevent student visas from being used as backdoor routes to jobs in this country.

But discussions have begun within the government about either raising this cap to 30 hours or removing it entirely.

However, the idea, which is primarily aimed at tackling a surge in job vacancies of over 1.3 million empty posts at present, may run into opposition from Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

https://www.thestar.ng/uk-govt-plans-longer-working-hours-for-nigerian-students-others/