Ireland offers degree and a job too

For the last 18-odd months, the government of Ireland is on a mission - to entice Indian students and get them to study in the country, offering the sweetener of plenty of job opportunities, especially in the technology sector.

“For the last 18 months, it’s been part of the country’s strategy to promote Ireland as a destination for studying. We are a small country, but we want to boast a wide diaspora of students and we are looking at students from India, China, Bazil and such other countries,” explains  Marina Donohoe, head of Education in Ireland, a body that is part of the government.

One of the issues that students from India have been struggling with lately when it comes to pursuing higher studies in countries like the UK is visa regulations that make it harder for them to find jobs and remain in the country.

However, Donohoe says jobs and lax visa regulations are some of the reasons Ireland might be a better options for students who are not planning on returning to India after completing their studies.

“The Irish visa allows students to stay up to one year to look for a job after they are done with their studies, and currently there are more than 2,500 jobs available in Ireland in companies like IBM, Facebook, Intel and Microsoft. There are lot of opportunities, especially in the technology sector,” she adds.

And while the cost of education is priced “competitively” compared to institutes in the UK, Donohoe hopes that country’s “centuries of experience” imparting education in institutes like the University of Dublin will attract students nonetheless.

“Everything from the cost of living to the fee structure depends on the course type and the university. Cost of living can cost anywhere between 5000-10,000 euros per year for students but that really depends on how they are living,” she says diplomatically.

Donohoe also explains that the current fields of study that Ireland focussing on currently are business studies, technology, computer science, medical and other sciences citing that students who study in these fields also have opportunities to work part time during their study period.

“We are quite happy with the kind of response we have gotten from Indian students this past year especially in cities like Bangalore and Pune where we had increased number of students coming to our fairs.

“This time last year, our Facebook page in India had only 30,000 ‘likes’, now we have half a million. People are reading blogs and our visa applications which are up considerably than previous years. We are optimistic,” she offers.