IRELAND

Ireland has 6000 years of history. The Neolithic culture was followed by Celtic rule. Later St.Patrick introduced Christianity in Ireland, which was followed by Vikings attack and its repulsion by Irish forces.

Ireland in the 19th century which ranked number one in potato cultivation in the world saw the Great Famine caused by potato blight, and resulted in millions of Irish migrating to U.S. Canada, UK, and Australia.

Modern era has seen Ireland emerge as 'tiger economy' which is enabled by a vibrant, culturally rich and ethnically diverse society. Unique to Ireland is its young population, majority of who are below 30, and hence giving way for fresh and bubbling enthusiasm in thought and action.

IRISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

The Irish education system includes 3 levels:  Primary level for 8 years, Secondary level for 5 or 6 years, and Higher level that follow secondary level. The Higher level offers a wide range of opportunities that include post-secondary courses, vocational and technical training courses, to full degree and the highest post-graduate levels.

Recent changes in education have been, adding adult and continuing education as part of lifelong learning, with the objective to meet the market and industry expectations emerging from the rising Irish economy.

INDIA AND EDUCATION IN IRELAND

'Education Ireland’ is the official body that looks into specified functions pertaining to the internationalization of Irish Education Services. Education Ireland works in coordination with various Irish Government departments. The statistics shows that in 2004, 396 Indian students went to Ireland. As of now, there are 100 Indian students studying at Irish third-level institutes.

The International Education Board of Ireland [IEBI] was established in 1993 to facilitate and support the development of Ireland as an International education centre. Universities, Institutes of Technology, Independent Colleges and Language schools of Ireland are represented on this Board.  India is a priority country of Ireland in terms of education and research. India is second only to China as a new market for education in Ireland.