There is some form of racism or neo- colonialism or I don’t know what that is practiced by universities in the west that I don’t understand and that should end. I apply for an admission to a university say in Melbourne for a PhD and one of the requirements is an English language proficiency exam. Now, I would not have a problem with this if my education had been in a language other than English. But this is not the effing case.
The language of instruction at the university is English. It is the same in primary and secondary school. Why then would someone think that after writing and defending a thesis in English I can’t speak or understand English and must prove my proficiency by taking an exam that costs 240 USD?
If this is not a form of systematic racism, then I don’t know what is. Or maybe I am wrong and that we who were colonialized by Britain and adopted their language as a method of instruction can’t speak it, can’t write it and maybe, can’t read it.
Or am I missing something?
Random thoughts 
That is a bloody outrage!!!!!!
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Maybe in their wisdom, I can’t tell the difference between a verb and an adjective.
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Your language skills are better than some of us born to it.
Their ”logic” just astounds me, & I am not well educated.
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The university of Melbourne and others are not convinced.
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Damned idiots.
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I would change that “some of us” to “most of us”. ๐
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Hahahahaha…..I thought that phrase at first, but was trying to be tactful, which is not my strong suit at the best of times. I do try to work at it at times though.
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I can think of no one more articulate and coherent in English than mak!
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Precisely.
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Is this me? Thank you, most kindly.
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I don’t know, Mak. Most nations that accept foreign students require some evidence that students are proficient in the approved teaching language(s). It’s not based on race but on the primary language(s) of the country of origin. NZ required evidence of English language skills for many visas including student visas, although not necessarily a pass in an English proficiency exam. Generally residents of Australia, the UK, the US and Canada aren’t required to prove they are competent in English unless English is not their primary language, which might apply to French speakers from Canada, or those whose primary language is an indigenous non-English language of on of those four nations. Everyone else, regardless of race or nationality must provide evidence the their English proficiency (or pre-purchase a course of tuition). The level of proficiency depends on the type of visa being applied for, and there are many ways, apart from having sat a proficiency exam in the previous two years that can provide the evidence required. The educational institutions themselves may have more restrictive or more relaxed requirements, but even I as a Kiwi need to meet those conditions.
Having said that Aussies are very nationalistic, and one only needs to compare the rights given to Australians living in NZ (same rights as all NZ residents whether citizens or not) compared to the rights given to Kiwis living in Australia (none) to understand their mindset. I wouldn’t be surprised of Australian educational institutions required Kiwis to prove their English proficiency as well ๐
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From the different comments, I think it is red tape.
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I think it is just a case of burocracy. There is a rule there that that test has to be taken, so it has to be taken. Rules are being made, like “all foreign applicants have to prove their English proficiency by taking the test XYZ”, and then that rule is applied, even if it is totally irational in some cases. The people involved probably have no room for discretion. I don’t think it is racism. It is thoughtlessness when designing those rules.
This is a country that has a tradition of ethnic cleansing against indigenous people. A country that deports refugees to small islands (Nauru, Manus Island) and imprisons them for years. I am currently reading a fascinating and shocking book written (or rather typed on a smartphone keyboard) by a prisoner on Manus Island: No Friend but the mountain, by Behrouz Boochani.
In a country that treats innocent refugees like this, there is definitely racism, but here I think it is just a case of bureaucratism.
Bureaucracies try to formalize a part of reality into rules. But that doesn’t work; reality always has more characteristics and individual cases than can be represented in any system of rules. The bureaucratic system is then nevertheless enforced, even if it is unreasonable in many individual cases.
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No Friend but the mountain, by Behrouz Boochani. must be a riveting read. I will look for it sometime in the future.
Bureaucracy will be the end of us all.
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I don’t think you want to go to Melbourne, Mak. If that requirement is specific to you as an applicant, it tells you all you need to know about the quality of their scholarship. (Or just write it off as bureaucratic nonsense). Intellectual integrity of the sort you would expect might be better found on your own fine continent, might it not?
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I was reading an article by a South African student whose argument that Africans should pursue their post graduate degrees in Africa to raise the standing of their universities in the global rankings and contribute to policy where it really matters.
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Definitely agree, though it’s tragic that African universities should have to prove themselves against western ones. You anyway well know Ngugi wa Thiongo’s notion of ‘colonialism of the mind’. Africa doesn’t need western thinking (it never did), especially as the so-called elite learned institutions over here appear to be going ‘woke’. IMO tells you everything about their current standards of scholarship. We’re retreating to the era of medieval suspicion and finger pointing and censorship. Science what science? Intellectual rigour – goodness me, no. Which now has me remembering the great medieval libraries of Mali that in recent times malign forces have tried to destroy.
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Interesting article.
https://www.sagoodnews.co.za/centre-for-world-university-rankings-the-sa-story/
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This is quite interesting. I think the problem of funding is a big one for African universities and limits their potential in the world stage.
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There is something tragic about all this. It affects your employability. If your university is not churning out research or faculty is not being cited, then the university is ranked poorly. It canโt attract foreign students. It canโt attract local graduate students to carry out innovative research and we are then in the same situation.
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Damn, that’s expensive.
Maybe it’s an Australian thing, but in first year we all had to take an English class which went over the basics we learned in school.
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And yet, you still speak Australian. Go figure.
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A level up from New Zealand gibberish.
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*Shrug* You’re all from criminal stock, so who knows what the Gehanna you’re saying?
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Says the guy from Liverpool…
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Oi! I’m from Chester. I ain’t no Scouser!
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Mean man ๐
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You want to start a war between Autsralia and NZ
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That’d be fun, but ANZAC might get in the way ๐
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Hahaha
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I wouldn’t have a problem with taking an English course if the dept feels it is necessary but when I am applying for a postgrad delivered in English, for eff’s sake, don’t ask me for a proficiency test result.
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Oz is very bureaucratic.
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Is it an efficient bureaucracy, if such a thing exists?
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It works, even if it’s often a headache. Virtually no corruption inside the Australian public service, so it’s a headache we all endure.
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I can survive a bureaucracy that works. I hate one that is inefficient and opaque like ours. Sometimes you donโt even know where to start
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@Mak.
They’re probably worried you might start practicing ju ju magic or whatever it
is you heathens do in your spare time.
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That could explain it.
I was planning on carrying some beads and eggs for protection but now I think I will have use them here on my enemies instead.
How are things down south? Em stopped baking or you became mean sharing?
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Baking up a storm.I just haven’t been in much of a blogging mood lately. I guess I must pull finger as they say and post some new stuff.
Things down here are …well you tell me, I never listen to the news.
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Me neither.
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John you have been like this for years now. I donโt know when you last put up a blog post.
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I find myself in pretty much the same situation. No psyche to blog.
I donโt watch any news so I am as clueless as you on things happening down south. Maybe John can tell us
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As a vegetarian I have no beef at all.
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I am not surprised. I would expect nothing less
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On a completely different note but still in Melbourne…. Saw the T 20 NB match between India and Pakistan at the MCG on the box last night.
Amazing. Over 100,00 thousand in the stadium.
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Greed. It is fluent in all languages. Someone collects the fee for the proficiency examination, thus his/her financial status is enriched. Please understand that as a Deaf person, I cannot hear nor speak English, but I can certainly sign the hell out of the language! ๐ Naked hugs, my Kenyan brother!
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I forgot about the part about someone making money out of my misery.
Sadly, due to lack of practice, I forgot my sign language lessons.
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๐ Humanity is always too intent on money! Now, as to your practicing sign language…Money = cash! LOL!
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I can become an interpreter and make money. Now this is motivation to learn ๐
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Go for the gold, my Kenyan brother! ๐ Naked hugs!
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i want to go for the diamond ๐
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Oh hell, I’ll toss in an emerald for good measure! ๐ Naked hugs!
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That’s the way to go.
I have sent you mail
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I seem to recall that when I applied for a US visa (I was in Australia), I had to prove my competence at English. I think this is just standard red tape.
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I think I am persuaded that it is just red tape. But it makes generally no sense, if you ask me.
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Yes, there’s a lot of red tape that makes no sense.
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