Ireland eyes India students

Targets enrollment numbers to 5,000 by 2016, from the current 1,000

Ireland seems to be emerging as a new destination on the Indian students education map. 

 

In 2012, the total number of Indian students in Ireland stood at 1,000 and this number is expected to double as the visa application numbers have gone up by 350% according to the Ambassador of Ireland, Feilim McLaughlin. The country has set up a target of taking this number to 5,000 by 2016. 

 

“We have not marketed Ireland well as an education alternative. But we have been working on this aspect for the last 18 months. We found that its not that students are not interested in coming to Ireland, but people are simply not aware of such options. For us the first step is to position ourselves as an alternative,” said McLaughlin.

 

To attract students, Ireland has also relaxed its visa rules and allows students to continue to stay in the country upto a year after the completion of their degree course. 

 

“We are not trying to make Ireland an immigration destination. Even our capacity to accommodate students in limited, hence we are looking at only 5,000 students from India. But we do have industries in Ireland that have skill shortage, and we are hoping that by attracting students we can create a talent pool. We have over 1,000 MNCs in Ireland.These include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, eBay, Twitter among others. We also have 18 of the top medical devices company in Ireland,” said Patrick O’Riordan, Director-India, Enterprise Ireland. 

 

After students from Europe, Ireland has been largest educational destination for students from the US, China and Malaysia. 

 

McLaughlin is also quick to point out that though Ireland is competitive with other countries in terms of fee structure, they are certainly not projecting the country as a cheap destination.

 

“Our universities are not into making profits. When it comes to higher studies in medicine then Ireland is as similar to UK. But course in MBS may cost in the range of Rs 9-10 lakh and Sciences would be in the range of Rs 10-12 lakh,” said O’Riordan.