GMIT goes global in quest to attract overseas students

Following the recent launch of Ireland’s new International Education Strategy by the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, GMIT has reinforced its commitment to working with the higher education sector to achieve the targets set out in the strategy.

The Galway college has embarked on a new plan to re-energise and restructure its International Engagement function with the appointment of a dedicated Director of International Engagement, John Joe O’Farrell.

Internationalisation is a vital part of GMIT’s new strategic plan, which will include a focus on international student recruitment, staff and student exchange, international collaborative research projects as well as Erasmus Mundus funded projects.

In particular, GMIT is beginning to attract international students from new markets in South East Asia, such as Vietnam. Having participated last month (November) in the Education in Ireland Mission to Vietnam, GMIT has identified three new education partners who can assist with the promotion of GMIT and the rolling out of its market strategy.  The three partners identified are PHC Edu Links, Eduviet Global and Smartcom.

Promotion of GMIT’s full suite of undergraduate programmes in Vietnam has already commenced and has been further supported by a visit from Eduviet Global’s CEO Dr Ngoc Luu who was welcomed to GMIT by President Dr Fergal Barry last week.

Speaking about GMIT’s recent progress in Vietnam, Dr Barry said: “We are delighted to be working with our new partners in Vietnam. Whilst realizing there are only a small number of Vietnamese students in Ireland at present, we can’t ignore that in excess of 150,000 Vietnamese students are currently studying overseas.

“This presents an opportunity for Ireland and GMIT to showcase our world-class, digitally enabled education system that focuses on innovative teaching and applied research.”

GMIT is preparing for another trip to Vietnam in March 2017 to further build on this progress and to meet students who may be interested in studying abroad.