Thailand waives visas for Indian tourists: Effective November 10, Indian nationals can enter Thailand visa-free. The new visa exemption rules will be valid from November 10, 2023, to May 10, 2024, and will allow Indian tourists to stay in Thailand for 30 days for tourism purposes only.
Indian students poised to become largest international student population in Ireland: Indian students are now poised to become Ireland’s largest international student population, according to the latest insights of Apply Board, a global education technology platform. In 2022-23, Indian students accounted for a total 4,735 enrolments signifying a 17.8 per cent surge year over year (YoY).
Based on the current growth trajectories, Indian students will soon surpass US students to become Ireland’s number one student population. It is very likely that India will grab the top spot by 2024-25, but it could happen as soon as next year, Apply Board Insights revealed.
In 2022-23, enrolment grew at least 9 per cent in 13 of Ireland’s top 15 most popular institutions for Indian students compared to the previous year. With over four times the number of Indian students studying in Ireland today compared to 2017, India is likely to be the country that propels Ireland’s growth as a study abroad destination.
Study Level Data: In 2022-23, 4,040 Indian students studied at the postgraduate level in Ireland, while 695 Indian students studied at the undergraduate level — postgraduate studies accounted for 85 per cent of Indian enrolments in 2022-23, though this percentage has been coming down since 2019-20, when postgraduate studies accounted for 89 per cent of Indian enrolments. Postgraduate enrolment was up 17 per cent in 2022-23 over the previous year, while undergraduate enrolment was up 20 per cent.
Gender: In 2022-23, there were 2,690 male Indian students and 2,040 female Indian students. Male enrolment was up 16 per cent over the previous year, while female enrolment was up 19 per cent. Males accounted for 57 per cent of Indian enrolment in both years.
Top 5 Irish Institutes for Indian students:
According to ApplyBoard, the top 5 most popular Ireland institutions for Indian students in 2022-23 were:
University College Dublin: 1,040 students, 25 per cent YOY growth
Trinity College Dublin: 755 students, 14 per cent YOY growth
University of Galway: 610 students, 22 per cent YOY growth
University College Cork: 405 students, 14 per cent YOY growthDublin City University: 400 students, 10 per cent YOY growth
In 2022-23, Ireland achieved a new all-time high in international student enrolment, with 33,480 students, marking a remarkable 12 per cent increase from the previous academic year. The 12 per cent YoY increase was the highest single-year increase Ireland has seen in the past six academic years outside of 2021-22.
The top 5 fields of study for international students in Ireland (2022/23) included Health and Welfare (20.5 per cent) at the top of the list followed by Business Administration and Law (17.3 per cent), Arts & Humanities (15.9 per cent), Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction (12.2 per cent), Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics (10.5). The Top 10 fields of Study remains the same as the previous year’s preference. STEM continues to drive interest for international students at Irish universities, with 43 per cent of students studying in this area.
The popularity of Master’s programmes in Ireland is growing - 29.5 per cent of international students there were studying at the Master’s level in 2021-22, up from 20.8 per cent in 2016-17.
Ireland's Third Level Graduate Scheme, offering extended work opportunities for Master's graduates, makes these programs increasingly attractive, Apply Board Insights concluded.
Canada tweaks International Student Program to protect students from fraud: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) has announced plans to implement several measures aimed at strengthening Canada’s International Student Program and at better protecting genuine students from fraud. These measures include the following:
Starting December 1, 2023, post-secondary designated learning institutions (DLI) will be required to confirm every applicant’s letter of acceptance directly with IRCC. This new, enhanced verification process aims to protect prospective students from letter‑of‑acceptance fraud and to help them avoid similar problems that some students faced earlier this year as a result of fraud investigations. It will also ensure that study permits are issued based only on genuine letters of acceptance.
In time for the fall 2024 semester, IRCC will adopt a “recognised institution” framework to benefit post-secondary DLIs that set a higher standard for services, support and outcomes for international students. These DLIs will benefit, for example, from the priority processing of study permits for applicants who plan to attend their school.
In the coming months, IRCC will complete an assessment of Post-Graduation Work Permit Program criteria and begin introducing reforms to better calibrate it to meet the needs of the Canadian labour market.
It may be recalled that earlier this year, nearly 800 Indian students in Canada faced deportation because of fraudulent admissions letters. In June, following investigations into fraudulent admissions letters, an IRCC taskforce was formed to work with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to review the cases of affected students and graduates. Of the 103 cases reviewed by October 12, 2023, 63 were found to be genuine students and 40 were not.
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