Irish uni expands into Middle East and eyes growth in India

“We just opened our office in Dubai to service the Middle Eastern component, and India is also now our big growth market,” Vincent Cunnane, president TUS, told The PIE News at the OneStep Global Global Education Conclave 2024.

The Irish technological university, a merger between the Athlone Institute of Technology and the Limerick Institute of Technology, has been expanding its international presence in recent years. 

Aside from its Dubai office, the university has opened student liaison offices in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

TUS’s Nigeria office was launched to help with recruitment of students from the larger Sub-Saharan African region. 

The university has also launched its offices in Mexico, Malaysia, and China to encourage more academic and research collaborations across the region. 

TUS also has a number of 2+2 degree arrangements with some Canadian colleges. 

In India, TUS works with market entry firm, OneStep Global, which provides the university with in-country representation in South Asia. 

With over 250 students from the Indian subcontinent studying at TUS, as previously reported by The PIE, the institute is trying to capitalise on the rising demand for Ireland among students. 

Over 11,200 Indian students currently study in Ireland, which is a 75% increase from five years ago. 

“Ireland is a rising destination among Indian students and based on that success our numbers are growing very significantly,” said Cunnane. 

With over seven campuses across Ireland, TUS has been able to achieve the tag of QS 5 star rated university, which assesses inclusivity, internationalisation, employability, academic development, arts and culture, finance, and other factors. 

Home to over 15,000 students from over 100 different nationalities, TUS also has one of the highest employability rates in Ireland. 

“We can guarantee that international students can get a job with their qualification because we have full employment and employers in Ireland are really interested in having more skilled graduates working for them,” said Cunnane. 

“The Indian community and graduates, especially, are very well respected in Ireland. Moreover Indians are one of the highest paid nationalities in Ireland with Indian females making up a huge part of that.”

Unlike other major study destinations, Ireland has a lot of things going for the development of its international education sector. 

The north-western European country has a 2030 strategy to attract international students and researchers, flexible working hours, and a two-year stayback visa policy which remains immune to changes. 

The growing interest in India led Cunnane to his first ever trip to India as the TUS India team organised a networking soiree in New Delhi, attended by prominent Indian schools and universities. 

Amity University, Bennett University, Geeta University, Jamia Millia Islamia, and Hindu College were some of the HEIs that participated in the soiree. 

The TUS team also met with the UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, as the statutory body looks to encourage more partnerships between Indian and international HEIs and branch campuses in India. 

“We met with the UGC Chairman who outlined India’s vision for the future. I was really impressed to hear how India aims to grow from 45 million students to 100 million students in higher education, which is a hugely ambitious goal,” said Cunnane. 

“So we understand that India needs help from across the globe to achieve that as it looks to afford every student an opportunity for education by 2047.”

According to Cunnane, TUS is aiming to have more relationships with equivalent institutions in India, meaning students can spend the first two years in the country and the last two years abroad to conduct research.

“We will be interested in exploring transnational education opportunities in India with a number of selected institutions. The goal is not just to focus on STEM, which is a big area for us, but also social work, humanities, business, design, and more.”

TUS already has a partnership with the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, wherein students from Ahmedabad have access to the Limerick School of Art and Design’s facilities and expertise.

We will be interested in exploring transnational education opportunities in India with a number of selected institutions
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Though Cunnane believes Ireland has had a better policy trajectory compared to other popular study destinations, there are still some challenges that need to be dealt with. 

“The issues are more general and are not limited to Ireland but accommodation is something we have to look into. We have a growing population and stopped building housing for a couple of years after Covid came along,” he said. 

“We have to temper our growth strategy with the fact that the population is increasing in Ireland and there’s an accommodation issue. Of course Ireland has market penetration and recognition, and we have made huge strides in that but there are still some limitations which need to be addressed.”