18th April 2011
First full day of trade mission also includes meeting with Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD today [Monday] launched a new trusted agents programme to promote Irish higher-level education in India. This programme is aimed at increasing Ireland’s share of the more than 100,000 Indian students who travel overseas for education each year. The announcement was made at a workshop involving 11 Irish third level institutions and 25 Indian education agents in New Delhi this morning.
‘The international education sector is currently worth approximately €900million to the Irish economy, and it is estimated that every 100 international students who come to Ireland creates 15 local jobs. The Government has identified this sector as a crucial part of our jobs and growth strategy, and we are determined to double the number of international students in Ireland by 2016.
‘More than 100,000 Indian students travel overseas for education every year. Around 1,000 of these currently come to Ireland. This morning’s initiative is part of an ambitious strategy by this government to achieve a significant increase in that number, thus making a major contribution to achieving growth in employment and in the economy generally.
‘As well as the direct contribution they make to the economy through tuition fees, accommodation and other expenditure, Indian students also enrich our campuses and our cities in many ways and are a crucial means of deepening the links between Ireland and India”.
The programme will be supported with a marketing and communications fund of 4 million rupees (€63,000) funded equally by Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Education & Skills and the Irish higher education sector.
The Minister made the announcement during a workshop for Indian education agents which took place as part of the Enterprise Ireland trade and education mission to India and Saudi Arabia. The workshop also provided an update on changes to the Irish visa system for international students.
On the first full day of the trade mission to India and Saudi Arabia, Minister Bruton’s schedule also included the following items:
- ▪ Breakfast with Daon, one of Ireland’s leading technology companies which has significant presence in India (1hr)
▪ Meeting with EMPGI-S Chand, joint venture between Indian and Irish company in e-learning (45 minutes)
▪ Lunch meeting with HKR Architects. One of Ireland’s leading architectural firms, which now has interests in India (30 minutes)
▪ Meeting with Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Anand Sharma
▪ Evening trade reception in the Ambassador’s residence in New Delhi, attended by 60-80 guests made up of Irish companies with interests in India, their customers and partners as well as guests from the Indian business community (2hrs)
‘Ireland’s relationship with education agents is critical in communicating the benefits of Ireland as a quality education destination to discerning Indian students. The objective of the new programme is to move Ireland up the agenda of education agents in India and make it easier for them to recommend Ireland as a quality education destination to the students the counsel’, Minister Bruton concluded.
[Photographs sent to Picture Desks]
ENDS
About Trusted Agents
The new trusted agents programme is a key measure in Ireland’s international education strategy “Investing in Global Relationships” to drive up the number of international students undertaking higher-level education in Ireland. India, which is a priority market in the strategy, is the pilot market for the new trusted agent programme.
The funding will be used to create high quality marketing collateral, targeted media editorials, advertising and e-marketing to promote of Irish higher-level education in India.
In tandem with this, Enterprise Ireland/Education in Ireland will also undertake a wider programme of direct visits to schools, meetings with school councils and associations and a range of other initiatives.
Indian education agents match the requirements of the Indian students with the offerings of overseas education service providers. The agents earn placement fees from the overseas education service provider.
In order to offer a range of choices to students, an agent will initially represent 10 to 20 overseas colleges from the main supplier countries, North America, Europe, Australia, Australia, Netherlands and Singapore.
The new programme is designed to help position Ireland more strongly with education agents and drive up the number of Indian students choosing Ireland.
For further information contact:
Ciara O’Mahony, Press Officer, Enterprise Ireland +353 1 7272284
Conor Quinn, Press Adviser, Dept. of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation +353 631 2218 or mobile no. +353 87 3743783
No comments:
Post a Comment