Last year, I lived in Spain and taught English at a local school through the British Council assistantship programme. Next year, I’m hoping to do the same thing, but this time in France, which means another summer of wading through vaguely worded government websites trying to find the correct visa process. And its expensive - not exactly an exciting start to moving abroad.
It also means that living and working abroad is not an accessible or viable option for many people. Graduating in a floundering economy is bad enough, but thanks to Brexit and BoJo we can’t even leave the country easily - options are simply becoming more and more limited. A work visa scheme could change that, and open up so many doors for a whole generation.
Graduating in a floundering economy is bad enough, but thanks to Brexit and BoJo we can’t even leave the country easily...
Schemes like the British Council assistantship exist to encourage cultural exchange and foster international relationships. Indeed, the international friendships I made in Spain opened up so many different conversations and introduced me to so many different worldviews: the differences between Spanish, German, and English clubbing; how Americans view their identity as beautifully diverse; how lucky other Europeans think I am as a native English speaker versus my envy of them for being able to speak both English and their native language. Above all, my Spanish has improved in a way that can only come from a truly immersive experience - from living and breathing that language every day.
But without the British Council and its offer of a paid placement abroad I never would’ve been able to expand my worldview in this way. The sad state of international opportunities for young people has seriously dwindled in our post-Brexit world. Although I study a degree that has a compulsory year abroad, I’m not sure if I would have been able to afford it if it were not for the British Council position - and the visa process is a big factor in the limitations on work opportunities available to UK citizens, as well as the affordability of moving abroad.
The reality is that international opportunities for the student body in this country are disappearing. Along with that so too is our connection to the international stage, our position in international politics and, above all, our ability, as a nation, to understand and connect with other cultures. A change in the bureaucracy surrounding visas, for people coming into this country as well as those going out, could save that. International mobility is one of the stepping stones towards a more connected world that thrives on cross-cultural understanding and communication - and the government should fight for that, and for our generation.