State to develop Chinese studies institute

THE Government has committed itself to establishing an institute of Chinese studies at an Irish university yet to be determined.

Doing so would help further trade relations between Ireland and China, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said in Beijing yesterday.

Ms Hanafin is part of the 300-strong trade mission delegation that is currently in China seeking to drum up more business for both the private and public sectors.

“You can do a degree (in Ireland) in business and French, or business and German, but you can’t do one in business and Chinese, so it would appear that’s certainly one of the things that could be pursued down the line, given the nature of the openings and the nature of the trade development as witnessed here,” she said.

She will ask the Higher Education Authority to begin seeking proposals for the development of the institute upon her return to Ireland.

Meanwhile, the minister yesterday signed a statement with her Chinese counterpart kick-starting the process whereby qualifications from third-level institutions in either country will become mutually recognised.

The third-level institutions also got in on the act, signing the bilateral agreements that are worth an estimated €31.4 million to the Irish economy.

It brings to 42 the total number of agreements in place between Irish and Chinese institutions.

The Irish facilities involved in the latest signings were Dublin City University, Athlone Institute of Technology, Waterford Institute of Technology, Portobello College, Griffith College, Dundalk Institute of Technology, and Dublin Institute of Technology.

Among the Chinese colleges involved in the various partnerships were Wuhan University, Nankai University, Beijing Technology and Business University, and the same city’s prestigious Tsinghua University, which has educated many of the country’s leading officials.

Both Ms Hanafin and the Irish third-level institutions are hoping to attract more Chinese students here. Colleges could command enormously lucrative fees from such students - between €8,000 and €12,000 for a place on a course, Ms Hanafin said. The same students would spend several times those figures outside of college, thus generating significant sums for the economy.

“The potential for Ireland (to attract) students from China is just enormous,” Ms Hanafin said. “Only 19% of the (relevant) age cohort in China is actually in third-level education, which is 20 million students. That would compare to 55% of Irish students in the (same) cohort.

“Basically, what this means is that there is a huge demand for third-level education that can’t be met in China - the potential of up to 10 million Chinese students looking for higher education.

“Now, we basically are only interested in getting a fraction of that, and we’re pitching at the top level of the market to get the quality students.”

As a gesture of goodwill, she said the Government would fund three new postgraduate scholarships in Ireland for Chinese students.