Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has said the Government aims to double the number of Chinese students taking degrees and diplomas in Ireland and hopes her visit to China, which began yesterday, will help lay the groundwork for achieving this.
Ms Hanafin said in Beijing yesterday that Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) would offer 12 scholarships to Chinese students, "a significant signal that we're not just after their fees".
She said: "The sole focus of this trip is third-level education. This is about diplomas and degrees. We need to double our number of PhD students."
Previous visits focused on encouraging Chinese students to come to Ireland to learn English, but this time the focus is on third-level education. Ms Hanafin is part of a delegation of 50 Irish representatives from universities, colleges and language schools taking part in Enterprise Ireland's largest education mission to China. The group will attend education fairs and delegates will visit Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai.
There are 3,000 Chinese third-level students in Ireland, mostly in science and technology courses. About 120,000 Chinese travel abroad each year to study and Ireland faces tough competition from the US, Australia, Britain and, increasingly, Asian destinations such as Singapore.
What Ireland has to offer is quality education and a safe environment, Ms Hanafin said.There are also attractive visa conditions - students can work 20 hours a week while studying, and a Green Card scheme is being devised to allow students to stay on to work in Ireland as long as they work where they are needed.
The goal is to have international students making up 15 to 20 per cent of the student population, Ms Hanafin said.