New deal for hundreds of Saudis to study in Ireland

SEVERAL HUNDRED Saudi students will travel to Ireland for vocational training under an agreement reached between the Government and the authorities there.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe, who is in the Middle East on a trade mission, announced the agreement yesterday. He said it would boost the economy and help to create local jobs.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1104/1224282635063.html

State in foreign student drive

The Government plans to increase international students in higher education by 12,000, or 50%, over the next five years boosting the sector to a €1.2bn business.

A new visa regime and higher standards will be key planks of the reform.

As part of the initiative to boost the current €900m a year financial intake to €1.2bn, MrAhern launched a new immigration regime for international students, reforming entry requirements while at the same time imposing safeguards to prevent abuse of the system.

http://irishexaminer.com/ireland/state-in-foreign-student-drive-131588.html#ixzz10NIDl7cs

Migrant strategy aims to make integration 'the norm' in classrooms

TEACHERS SHOULD create a more “intercultural learning environment” in classrooms and focus more on developing pupils’ English language skills during regular lessons.

These are two key proposals in a new Government five-year migrant education strategy, which aims to make “inclusion and integration the norm” and combat racism in schools.

In the 2009/10 academic year there were 28,422 migrant children attending second-level schools, 9 per cent of the school population. At primary level, there are 45,700 immigrant pupils out of a total student population of 476,000. British, Polish and Nigerians are the three biggest migrant groups at second-level schools.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0916/1224278992567.html

750 Saudi students enrol

Around 750 Saudi Arabian students will enrol at a new college in Dublin when it opens in the grounds of a landmark hotel complex, it was announced yesterday.

The Citywest Institute of Education in south Dublin will welcome its firstpupils in April after securing a lucrative €250 million contact with the Ministry of HigherEducation in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/750-saudi-students-enrol-112697.html#ixzz0g6IUP05c

Time limits on foreign students proposed

MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern has proposed capping at five years the amount of time someone from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) can spend in the State as a student.

A discussion document on reform of the student immigration system, published yesterday, also proposes introducing a two-tier system to target incentives at the “upper end of the academic spectrum” and tighter inspection of educational institutions.

Further restrictions would be introduced on the placement of non-EEA children in Irish schools in receipt of State funding, although the document raises the possibility that students could pay an “immigration levy” set by the Government as a means of recovering the costs of their child’s education.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0902/1224253663851.html

Student immigration reforms published

The Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern today published a set of proposals to reform student immigration from outside the EU.

A public consultation process on the issue has been launched.

The discussion document drawn up by Mr Ahern, in consultation with a number of other Government departments, contains more than 20 specific proposals, including capping the length of time a person can spend in Ireland as a student, introducing a two tier system to facilitate the targeting of incentives towards the upper end of the academic spectrum, a tighter inspection regime, possible changes in respect of visas and new guidelines on work placement or internship.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0901/breaking44.htm

Vote drive for ethnic minorities

TENS of thousands of asylum seekers, migrant workers and foreign students are being urged to register their vote for the forthcoming 2009 local elections.

The voter registration drive, which kicks off this week, is aiming to get more than 50,000 people on the electoral register before the deadline.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/vote-drive-for-ethnic-minorities-1518407.html

More Chinese students to come here.

THE IRISH and Chinese governments are to set up a joint working group to promote greater co-operation in the higher education sector.
The move is expected to strengthen student exchange programmes and enhance collaboration in research and development.

"Minister Xinsheng said he wants to send some 5,000 Chinese PhD students abroad over the coming years and I want to ensure that Ireland's third-level institutions are optimally positioned to attract as many of those students as possible. When you consider that an international student studying in a third-level institution in Ireland spends about €10,000 annually on accommodation and other services and pays on average that amount again on tuition fees, there is strong economic value in attracting Chinese students to our shores," the Minister said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1025/1224838827968.html

Third-level college begins 'fingerprinting' non-EU students

A PRIVATE Dublin third-level college has begun phasing in a controversial fingerprinting system to monitor some foreign students, the Sunday Tribune can reveal.

Griffith College Dublin (GCD) has introduced the 'biometric' identification process whereby students from outside the EU will scan their fingerprints every day in order to prove their continued attendance in class.

The students are granted visas by the Department of Justice which allow them to live, work part time and study in Ireland as long as they maintain a satisfactory attendance rate.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2008/sep/07/third-level-college-begins-fingerprinting-non-eu-s/