Minister Mitchell O’Connor led largest Education Mission to India to date

Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor in the centre, with Barry O'Driscoll and Wendy D'Souza from Education Ireland and Deirdre Dunne and Alena Jurikova from the International Office
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - 15:00

Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. Minister of State for Higher Education arrived in New Delhi, India on Friday 23rd February 2018 to lead the ‘Education in Ireland’ trade mission to India.
The trade mission was built around Education in Ireland Fairs organised by Enterprise Ireland in 5 cities; Chennai; Bangalore; Kochi; New Delhi and Pune. India is now fastest growing market for recruitment of third level students.

Admission staff and academics from 20 Irish Higher Education Institutions engaged with over 2,000 Indian students during the Education in Ireland Fairs, making this the largest education mission to India to date.
Speaking on her return Minister Mitchell O’Connor said; “I was delighted to lead the largest Education in Ireland mission to India to date.  

It was great to meet and spend time with 20 Irish higher education institutions who accompanied me to promote the Irish higher education sector.   It was wonderful to see our Irish institutions held in such high regard internationally.   Ireland’s Higher Education Institutions are at the forefront of research and innovation. We are known for delivering ‘employment-ready’ skills so students can transition smoothly into the workplace. This has been an important driver in Ireland’s transformation into a high tech, knowledge based economy. The possibility of gaining valuable post-study work experience makes Ireland a very compelling option for Indian students”.

She continued; “This mission was part of the Department of Education and Skills’ plan to substantially increase the numbers of international students studying in our higher education institutions, by 33%, from 33,000 to 44,000 by 2020”.
Minister Mitchell O’Connor visited the Education in Ireland Fair in New Delhi on Saturday 24th February where she meet with Irish higher education institutions and their Indian agents as well as Indian students and their families considering moving to Ireland to study for a third-level qualification.

The Minister attended a reception hosted  by the Irish Ambassador to India H.E. Brian McElduff, where Minister Mitchell O’Connor announced details of two new programmes launched by Cork Institute of Technology and NUI Galway; opened the call for applications for the ‘Government of Ireland -International Education Scholarships’; and launched the ‘Ireland-India Alumni Network’.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor travelled on to Mumbai where on Monday 26th February she met with officials of the Government of Maharashtra and Pro-Vice Chancellor at Mumbai University to discuss how to develop further collaborations between Ireland and the State of Maharashtra in the areas of international mobility of students, staff and research initiatives.

Giles O’Neill, Head of Education in Ireland at Enterprise Ireland said; “India is now the fastest growing education market for Irish higher education institutions. Latest figures from Enterprise Ireland show a 90% growth in exports from the Irish education sector to India since 2013.  In 2017, Higher Education Institutions saw a rise of 25% in the level of interest from Indian students wishing to study in Ireland. Based on the positive response and levels of interest we have seen from across India on this Education in Ireland mission, we expect to see similar growth in the next academic cycle.  This is as a result of the commitment and resource dedicated to India by our international offices and academics in Irish higher education institutions.  Most importantly, it is down to the experience those Indian students experience whilst in Ireland - a world class education, a tremendous life experience and something that prepares them well for their own international careers”.