The Irish Blessing
I was given a precious opportunity to visit Ireland in November 2015. Not only has this visit allowed me to see the beauty of this Catholic country, it has also aroused me to revisit a basic question : Why do we want our children to study overseas? Fleeing from the pressing education system in Hong Kong? Looking for better opportunities for academic excellence? Or fostering our young ones into promising and cultivated ladies and gentlemen with a heart of readiness to deal with the challenges in life? If you are now in search of a place which could widen the academic horizons and life experience of your children, Ireland is absolutely a place worth considering.
In Ireland there is a very clear National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) classifying and comparing qualifications. It helps overseas students to find out more about the courses they might be interested in. Moreover, not only will it help the students to explain to their employers what qualifications and skills they hold when looking for jobs after graduation, it gives the students a bigger picture about their progression opportunities as well. I was told by the officers of the Quality and Qualification Ireland (QQI) that the Irish NFQ is well connected with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). In other words, the qualifications granted by the tertiary institutions of Ireland are widely recognized by institutes of various countries inclusive of UK and Hong Kong.
During my visit in Ireland, I learnt that universities in Ireland are mainly government ones. In other words, we may have better confidence in the quality of the education offered by these universities. Students, in accordance with their academic capabilities and interest, may choose the alma mater of James Joyce, University College Dublin, or the Trinity College, where the father of the Theatre of the Absurd, Samuel Beckett had spent 4 years on studying French, Italian and English. With very good bridging programmes to help the university freshmen, some universities are willing to offer opportunities for students who hold 5.5 or 6 in IELTS. This is absolutely a very encouraging spring board for some students who have an unexpected slip in their public examinations. Among all these universities, GMIT is the college doing very impressive work in helping overseas students to start their academic journey in Ireland. For those who have particular passion for the medical science, they might be happy to learn that many medical disciplines in Ireland are open to overseas students at an affordable cost while enjoying the same status of recognition around the world.
For students with a less competitive socio-economic family background, schooling in Ireland is certainly an affordable alternative, especially compared with other countries such as Canada, the States, Australia and UK. I was told that the tuition fee for an academic year ranges from €9,500 to €13,000, depending upon the kind of course the student takes. Moreover, overseas students are allowed to take up part-time work at their spare time. A boy from Hong Kong, who is now working at Brown Thomas Department Store as a part-time shop assistant, told me that he is planning to stay in this Catholic island after graduation because the minimum wage there is very attractive, roughly €8 to €9 per hour.
Many people consider sending their children overseas for further studies because they wish their boys or girls could pick up a foreign language such as the world lingua franca, English. If this is also your concern, Ireland is definitely the place you would like to consider because there is no China Town in this island country － you must communicate with others in English, or Irish perhaps. Yet, the most impressive thing to me is the people you meet there. They are friendly and cultured. I believe young people fostered in such culture would become persons with the capability to excel while having passion to care for the community they live in.
During my visit, I found Ireland is also a particularly peaceful place ideal for overseas students who really wish to pursue their academic dreams. Students studying in an Irish university may have less temptations as compared with studying in universities of other busy cities such as Sydney, Vancouver and London. Studying overseas is like tossing a coin. It’s a head or tail game. There are in fact pros and cons in this game but choosing the right place is the first and most important step. As the Irish Blessing goes, may the road rise to meet YOU － anyone who has academic aspirations which could be translated into benefit for himself and greater strength for our community!
Jonathan Lai
Principal
Lee Kau Yan Memorial School
