A new deal between Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and Nanchang University, China, has been described as ‘momentous’. The strategic partnership agreement with the Chinese university, which is ranked as one of the top 100 universities in China, will have a huge impact for Castlebar and the entire region, according to Labour councillor Harry Barrett.
Three education agreements were signed between the two institutions for joint programmes in accountancy, tourism, and nursing while an existing programme regarding computing and business programmes is also to be expanded.
The Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe and the Higher Education Authority chief executive,Tom Boland, witnessed the agreement’s confirmation in Galway by GMIT president Marion Coy and Nanchang University president Prof Zhou Wenbin.
“This opportunity must be one of the biggest this county has seen,” Cllr Barrett said. “I will be calling on our local authorities to maximise the potential of this new deal by appointing a council committee that will draft a paper outlining the benefits of using the various advantages of Mayo as a location for any developments that may arise from this new deal.”
The business potential arising out of the deal is huge. Nanchang University in Jiangxi province has a student population of 90,000 on five campuses covering 8,000 hectares. Jiangxi province has a population of 43 million and has been earmarked for ‘accelerated development’ by the Chinese government.
The partnership is “a new model, involving business and education,” Ms Coy said at the signing.
All of GMIT’s nursing programmes (general and psychiatric ) are delivered in the Castlebar campus ensuring that the town and county will very much benefit from the deal. Nanchang students will also attend business and technology programmes at the Castlebar campus as well as the nursing programmes.
