It is in this context that international students have come to be prized commodities. Typically, in the post World War II era, international students would head towards the United States as the traditional destination, a trend continuing till early 2000s. As the global race for skill heated up and states embarked on aggressive recruitment strategies, this scenario started shifting. Between 2001 and 2003, the inflow of foreign students increased by more than 36% in the United Kingdom, 30% in France, and 13% in Australia. During the same period, however, the number of incoming foreign students declined by 26% in the United States. Over the last decade, fast track entry systems in many OECD countries – not all of them traditional destination countries for international students – have further dispersed the global student traffic. Concerted efforts are being made on behalf of states to retain them as future skilled professionals.
Contemporary western economies are so dominated by discourses of mobile knowledge, talent and entrepreneurial innovation that anthropologist Aiwah Ong wrote how national citizenship in many of these countries is giving way to a contingent citizenship based on meritocracy. And yet, as many scholars of postwar western nationalism and citizenship practices have pointed out, while skilled professionals are welcome, by no means are they parts of 'traditional ethnos or demos'. Their welcome is always contingent and conditional upon a range of socioeconomic and political factors that are driven by both domestic and international power relations. It is important to keep in mind that many of the aforementioned states used to have exclusionary immigration and citizenship policies till, at least the 1960s, when, due to domestic labour needs and shifting postcolonial hierarchies of nation states, their 'gates' finally started opening up to professionals from the global South. While rising discourses of global knowledge economy would subsequently invest many such professionals with a form of honorary membership in states they were historically and conceptually excluded from, a gap between their formal passage of entry and their political membership will prove tenacious.
Take, for example, the case of Canada. The high skilled labour market in Canada has been a site dominated by discourses of skills and merit typical to a globalized knowledge economy. This reached a crescendo in early 2000s, when, following the publication of the 1st National Innovation Strategy, Canada actively started planning to partake in the global race for talent. In the following decade, riding on the tide of a research and development led global economy dictated by innovators and entrepreneurs in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM), the Canadian government introduced a series of policies to stake a claim in the global talent pool. One among these policies is the Canadian Experience Class – an immigration program offering expedited residency to international students and high skilled temporary workers on the basis of their local Canadian experience (following Australia).
Establishing Canadian experience as a precondition for recruitment as skilled immigrant is a well thought-out response to the global race for skill. Not surprisingly, the Canadian government has recently published its first International Education Strategy (tellingly fore worded by the Ministry of International Trade and Finance). International education has been declared one among the 22 priority areas for revenue generation and the recruitment of international students has been intensified across Canadian post secondary institutions. The government recently also published the following statistics on the amount of revenue generated by students from top six countries and regions. These countries/regions are also identified as emerging markets in Canada's Global Market Action Plan.
Q.55
According to the passage, the situation of immigration policies in the West changed after 1960 when
a Western countries began to invite both skilled and unskilled people from the East.
b the Occident began to invite people from the Orient without any socio-economic and political motive.
c Western countries faced labour unrest.
d the exclusionary immigration policies gave way to an inclusive one.
Q.56
The author defines international students as "prized commodities". Why does the author consider international students as "prized"?
a International students bring foreign exchange with them.
b International students bring high levels of skill and talent.
c International students are often responsible for inclusion of different linguistic influences in a country.
d International students make a country truly globalized.
Q.57
It can be inferred that when the author refers to "contingent citizenship based on meritocracy", he means
a citizenship granted to meritorious students.
b citizenship granted to people who excelled in vocational subjects.
c citizenship granted to skilled people.
d citizenship granted to people coming from disadvantaged socio-economic background.
Q.58
Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a reason for the introduction of policies favouring conferring of citizenship status, in Canada?
a A resurgent global economy influenced by radical new changes in the fields of science, medicine and technology
b To attract all international students from over the world
c To attract educated young people
d A vibrant economy marked by innovations in Social Sciences
Contemporary western economies are so dominated by discourses of mobile knowledge, talent and entrepreneurial innovation that anthropologist Aiwah Ong wrote how national citizenship in many of these countries is giving way to a contingent citizenship based on meritocracy. And yet, as many scholars of postwar western nationalism and citizenship practices have pointed out, while skilled professionals are welcome, by no means are they parts of 'traditional ethnos or demos'. Their welcome is always contingent and conditional upon a range of socioeconomic and political factors that are driven by both domestic and international power relations. It is important to keep in mind that many of the aforementioned states used to have exclusionary immigration and citizenship policies till, at least the 1960s, when, due to domestic labour needs and shifting postcolonial hierarchies of nation states, their 'gates' finally started opening up to professionals from the global South. While rising discourses of global knowledge economy would subsequently invest many such professionals with a form of honorary membership in states they were historically and conceptually excluded from, a gap between their formal passage of entry and their political membership will prove tenacious.
Take, for example, the case of Canada. The high skilled labour market in Canada has been a site dominated by discourses of skills and merit typical to a globalized knowledge economy. This reached a crescendo in early 2000s, when, following the publication of the 1st National Innovation Strategy, Canada actively started planning to partake in the global race for talent. In the following decade, riding on the tide of a research and development led global economy dictated by innovators and entrepreneurs in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM), the Canadian government introduced a series of policies to stake a claim in the global talent pool. One among these policies is the Canadian Experience Class – an immigration program offering expedited residency to international students and high skilled temporary workers on the basis of their local Canadian experience (following Australia).
Establishing Canadian experience as a precondition for recruitment as skilled immigrant is a well thought-out response to the global race for skill. Not surprisingly, the Canadian government has recently published its first International Education Strategy (tellingly fore worded by the Ministry of International Trade and Finance). International education has been declared one among the 22 priority areas for revenue generation and the recruitment of international students has been intensified across Canadian post secondary institutions. The government recently also published the following statistics on the amount of revenue generated by students from top six countries and regions. These countries/regions are also identified as emerging markets in Canada's Global Market Action Plan.
Q.55
According to the passage, the situation of immigration policies in the West changed after 1960 when
a Western countries began to invite both skilled and unskilled people from the East.
b the Occident began to invite people from the Orient without any socio-economic and political motive.
c Western countries faced labour unrest.
d the exclusionary immigration policies gave way to an inclusive one.
Q.56
The author defines international students as "prized commodities". Why does the author consider international students as "prized"?
a International students bring foreign exchange with them.
b International students bring high levels of skill and talent.
c International students are often responsible for inclusion of different linguistic influences in a country.
d International students make a country truly globalized.
Q.57
It can be inferred that when the author refers to "contingent citizenship based on meritocracy", he means
a citizenship granted to meritorious students.
b citizenship granted to people who excelled in vocational subjects.
c citizenship granted to skilled people.
d citizenship granted to people coming from disadvantaged socio-economic background.
Q.58
Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a reason for the introduction of policies favouring conferring of citizenship status, in Canada?
a A resurgent global economy influenced by radical new changes in the fields of science, medicine and technology
b To attract all international students from over the world
c To attract educated young people
d A vibrant economy marked by innovations in Social Sciences
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