Ireland is keen on attracting Indian students to pursue postgraduation in its institutions. In this endeavour, an education fair was organised recently in Bangalore by Education Ireland, the government organisation responsible for the development of Ireland’s education sector, as part of a three-city series. The various courses available in Ireland’s universities were highlighted at the fair.
Officials said that currently, about 900 Indians are studying in Ireland and they hope to double the number in the coming year. Julie Sinnamon, Executive Director, Enterprise Ireland, and one of the organisers of the event said it was the largest Irish delegation to come to India. She added that officials at the fair highlighted courses in life sciences and ICT (Information and Communications Technology) as it was the overlapping interest of Ireland and Bangalore.
Several Indian company representatives were present at the venue, looking for collaboration with Irish universities. Kevin Fernandes, manager of a private firm, said there were looking at Ireland’s education sector with a lot of interest.
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Sandeep Pawar, a BBA graduate from KLE College, says he is evaluating his prospects of doing an MBA abroad. “As Ireland’s student visa provides an extended one year to find work in Ireland, I might consider studying there as it seems to offer good job prospects.”
Justin McCarthy, Director-Biotechnology Programme at University College Cork (UCC), said that there was a serious interest in Indian students who wish to pursue their higher studies in Ireland. He also mentioned that close to 30 per cent of the Biotechnology batch last year comprised Indian students.
“UCC is also looking at collaboration by way of faculty-student exchange and sharing resources with Indian institutes. UCC will also open a recruitment office in Bangalore shortly,” he added.
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Participants
Dublin Business School, Dublin City University, Dublin Institute of Technology, Griffith College Dublin, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, National College of Ireland (NCI), National University of Ireland Maynooth, NUI Galway, Shannon College of Hotel Management, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Limerick, Waterford Institute of Technology, Limerick Institute of Technology, Cork Institute of Technology, and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) were some of the universities that took part in the fair.