Ireland plans to double the number of Indian students studying in its universities over the next three years, according to its Minister for Training and Skills Ciaran Cannon T.D.
Mr. Cannon is leading a mission of Education Ireland, the promotional agency, to Bangalore where 16 Irish universities are slated to participate in a fair on Saturday.
At a symposium held ahead of the fair, he said his government had identified ICT (information and communication technology), life sciences and pharmaceuticals — “the areas we are strong in” — to forge university-level partnerships between the two countries. Bangalore was a hotbed of activities in these areas and was a natural match. “We see significant collaboration happening between Indian and Irish universities over the coming years. What we want is a two-way street with Irish students coming here to study also,” Mr. Cannon said.
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Indian students were recognised as talented and hard-working, while Ireland was the world’s top small-country destination for higher education that offered them competitively priced opportunities to further their careers. The U.S. and more recently Brazil also had chosen their higher education institutes to improve their skills, he said.
Julie Sinnamon, Global Business Director of Enterprise Ireland, said this was their largest educational mission to this country. Biotechnology company Biocon Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who is also Honorary Consul-General of Ireland in Karnataka, Science Foundation Ireland Director Ruth Freeman and e-portal PayPal's Dhruv Sawhney took part in the symposium.