Ireland poised for strong growth in Chinese student numbers
Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan expects strong growth in coming years in the number of Chinese students coming to Ireland’s third-level institutes, as she began a trade mission to China.
“In terms of the numbers of students that go to the other English-speaking countries like the United States, or Britain, or New Zealand or Australia, we are quite low but we believe we have the opportunity to grow that significantly,” Ms. O’Sullivan told The Irish Times.
After several years in which the numbers of Chinese students in China stagnated, Ms. O’Sullivan said in the past year there had been a 34 per cent increase in the number of Chinese students applying for Irish student visas.
“We’ve seen real growth. It’s also a two-way process with Irish students coming here,” the Minister said. There are 2,700 Chinese students studying in Ireland and 2,400 in Irish institutions in China. There are also 2,400 English language students in Ireland.
International students in Ireland are the happiest in all of Europe, according to a recent survey, something which resonates with Chinese applicants.
Source: Irish Times
