留英國際學(xué)生或?qū)⒉辉傧硎苊赓M醫(yī)療

British Health Fee Adds Barrier for Foreign Students

留英國際學(xué)生或?qū)⒉辉傧硎苊赓M醫(yī)療

The British government recently announced a proposal to introduce health care access fees for migrants and long-term visitors this year. The fees would affect some foreign students, who would for the first time have to pay for medical cover while in Britain.

英國政府最近宣布一項提案，旨在于今年向移民以及常年訪問者征收醫(yī)療準(zhǔn)入收費。這項收費可能會對外國學(xué)生產(chǎn)生影響，這個群體將首次需要為在英國期間接受醫(yī)護(hù)服務(wù)而付費。

The proposal, published on Dec. 30, is part of an immigration bill now going through Parliament and does not expressly target students. But concerns are being voiced that it would set up yet another hurdle for international access to the British education system — one of the most prestigious in the world.

這項提案于2013年12月30日發(fā)布，是現(xiàn)由國會審議的移民法案的部分內(nèi)容，原本針對的對象并非留學(xué)生。但現(xiàn)在人們普遍擔(dān)憂，可能它會使得國際學(xué)生在進(jìn)入英國教育體系時，又多了一道障礙——而這是全世界最有聲望的教育體系之一。

“As a matter of principle, the levy is unfortunate and unfair,” said Dominic Scott, chief executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs, the national advisory body for international students in Britain.

“原則上來說，這項收費并不成功，也并不公平，”多米尼克·斯科特(Dominic Scott)說，他是英國國際學(xué)生事務(wù)委員會(UK Council for International Student Affairs)的首席執(zhí)行官，該機構(gòu)是英國面向國際學(xué)生的全國性咨詢機構(gòu)。

Foreign students who need to apply for visas — those from countries outside the European Union — will have to pay 150 pounds, or roughly $250, per year of study when they are issued their visa, according to the plan laid out by the Department of Health.

根據(jù)英國衛(wèi)生部頒布的計劃，需持簽證進(jìn)入英國的留學(xué)生——即來自歐盟以外國家的學(xué)生——在申請簽證的時候，每學(xué)年將額外支付150英鎊，約合250美元。

The proposed charge is relatively minor compared with tuition and other costs that for a foreign student in Britain can easily reach £20,000 a year. Critics of the plan concede that it is unlikely, by itself, to turn many away. Still, they warn that it will add to a cumulative message that is increasingly unwelcoming.

留學(xué)生在英國一年的學(xué)費和其他開銷加在一起，很容易就可達(dá)到2萬英鎊，與之相比，這項提案中的收費并不算什么。這項計劃的批評者也承認(rèn)，只是計劃本身不大可能打消太多人來英國留學(xué)的念頭。不過他們?nèi)匀痪嬲f，它會傳遞出一個愈加強烈的信息，那就是英國日益加劇的不歡迎態(tài)度。

It comes during an often strident populist campaign for tighter immigration curbs and less than two years after the government eliminated a visa track, known as Tier-1 (post-study work), that allowed newly graduated foreigners to stay in Britain to work.

這個提案提出，正值言辭激烈的民粹主義陣營要求收緊移民政策，而且不到兩年前，政府取消了所謂Tier-1(即畢業(yè)工作類簽證計劃，允許外國應(yīng)屆畢業(yè)生留在英國工作)的簽證政策。

“Tier 1 was the hammer blow, but it’s just possible that people will see this as one damned thing after another,” Mr. Scott said.

“Tier-1事件就像一記重錘，不過有可能人們把這次的事當(dāng)作是連鎖反應(yīng)，”斯科特說。

Daniel Stevens, the international students’ officer at the National Union of Students, the country’s largest student union, agreed: “You will see a shift in the attitude of international students toward other countries,” he said.

丹尼爾·斯蒂文斯(Daniel Stevens)是英國全國學(xué)生聯(lián)合會(National Union of Students)的國際學(xué)生官員，該機構(gòu)是全英最大的學(xué)生聯(lián)盟，他同意斯科特的說法：“你將看到留學(xué)生漸漸傾向于去其他國家。”

Daniel Obst, deputy vice president of the Institute of International Education, in New York, said he thought it highly unlikely that the fee would cut the number of students going to Britain. Still, “every time you have a new regulation, there is concern,” he said. “You have to deal with the perceptions issue.”

丹尼爾·奧伯斯特(Daniel Obst)是位于紐約的國際教育研究所(Institute of International Education)的常務(wù)副總裁，他認(rèn)為這項收費不大可能減少英國的留學(xué)生人數(shù)，但是，“每次你提出一項新舉措，都會引起人們的憂慮，”他說，“你必須處理好別人對它的解讀。”

Britain has long been a popular destination for study, and in recent years the trend has been strongly upward. In 2011, the last year for which comprehensive figures are available, it hosted nearly 420,000 international post-secondary students, including more than 290,000 from outside the European Union, according to data from Unesco. That was about 100,000 more in total — and 74,000 more non-European Union students — than were counted in a similar survey in 2005.

英國長久以來都是留學(xué)熱門國家，而在近年這個趨勢仍然在不斷上升。根據(jù)UNESCO(聯(lián)合國教科文組織)提供的數(shù)據(jù)，在最近一個有綜合統(tǒng)計結(jié)果的年份，即2011年，英國接收了近42萬名中學(xué)以上教育程度的留學(xué)生，其中包括29萬多名歐盟以外國家的學(xué)生。相比2005年進(jìn)行的類似調(diào)查結(jié)果，留學(xué)生總?cè)藬?shù)增加了10萬，非歐盟國家學(xué)生的人數(shù)增加了7.4萬人。

“Students that want to come to the U.K. will continue to come,” Mr. Obst said.

"想要來英國的學(xué)生還是會繼續(xù)來的，"奧伯斯特說。

The Department of Health says it researched its proposed fees to ensure they were competitive compared with charges in other education destinations.

英國衛(wèi)生部表示，他們對提案中的收費進(jìn)行了研究，以保證和其他的留學(xué)目的地國家收費相比，他們?nèi)匀痪哂懈偁幜Α?/p>

University recruiters also point out that other popular destinations, notably the United States, have always charged foreign students for health care.

大學(xué)招生人員也指出，其他受歡迎的留學(xué)目的地，特別是美國，一直都向留學(xué)生收取醫(yī)療費用。

“A British student going to the U.S. is going to have to pay for medical coverage too,” said Shaun Curtis, director of international affairs at Exeter University.

“去美國上學(xué)的英國學(xué)生也要花錢買醫(yī)療保險，”肖恩·柯蒂斯(Shaun Curtis)說，他是?？巳卮髮W(xué)(Exeter University)的國際事務(wù)主管。

The proposed £150 a year may be seen as a drop in the bucket alongside tuition that, for a foreign student, can exceed £10,000 a year and living costs that can run around £800 a month (depending on the location), not to mention visa application costs of £400. International students who apply for a visa also need to show a bank balance with enough funds to cover the year.

這筆每年150英鎊的開支或許并不是筆大數(shù)目，對一個留學(xué)生來說，他們每年的學(xué)費要超過1萬英鎊，生活開支將可能會達(dá)到每個月800英鎊(取決于求學(xué)地區(qū))，更不用說申請簽證的400英鎊花費了。國際學(xué)生申請簽證時，也需要提供銀行結(jié)余證明其有足夠的資金度過這一年。

“International students, or their parents, tend to be quite affluent,” Dr. Curtis said.

“國際學(xué)生，或者說他們的父母，通常都是十分富裕的，”柯蒂斯說。

The Department of Health says the changes to how it charges users for health care will help recoup in total some £500 million yearly.

英國衛(wèi)生部則表示，對使用醫(yī)療服務(wù)的收費進(jìn)行這么一項小小的改變，每年能為英國帶來5億英鎊的總收入。

“Having a universal health service free at the point of use rightly makes us the envy of the world, but we must make sure the system is fair to the hard-working British taxpayers who fund it,” Lord Howe, a junior health minister, said when he announced the plan.

“在醫(yī)療服務(wù)點提供全面的免費醫(yī)療，這令我們成為世人羨慕的對象，但我們必須確保這個系統(tǒng)對為它提供資金的辛勤工作的英國納稅人也是公平的，”英國衛(wèi)生部次長賀維勛爵(Lord Howe)在宣布這個計劃的時候這樣表示。

Still, while the added cost may be insignificant for a single student on a three-year bachelor’s degree course, the cost for a graduate student with dependents could be substantial.

盡管新增的開支對于攻讀三年學(xué)士學(xué)位課程的單身學(xué)生來說不算什么，但對于有家小的研究生來說，它可能是一筆不小的費用。

“If you are a Ph.D. student, you could actually find yourself paying £2,400 at a point of entry,” said Mr. Stevens of the student union.

“如果你是一個博士生，為了加入英國醫(yī)保體系，你可能要支付2400英鎊的基本費用，”學(xué)生聯(lián)合會的斯蒂文斯說。

Yet Dr. Curtis of Exeter University said he expected British universities to retain their allure. “Our international population has increased significantly year on year, despite all the recent scare stories,” he said.

埃克塞特大學(xué)的柯蒂斯表示，他認(rèn)為英國的大學(xué)能夠保持它們的吸引力。“盡管最近有不少讓人恐慌的傳聞，我們的留學(xué)生人數(shù)還是逐年顯著增長，”他說。