International exchange organisation AFS Intercultural Programs has announced it will expand to include AFS Ireland as its 61st member.
More international education opportunities will be available in Ireland, which the company sees as an increasingly important English-speaking destination. It anticipates at least 100 high school students will study abroad with AFS in Ireland in 2018.
EIL Intercultural Learning, a non-profit organisation that has been providing educational and cultural immersion activities for 55 years, will operate AFS Ireland. It currently serves 2,000 people annually and is a member of Federation EIL.
“We are delighted to join AFS because of our shared mission to provide intercultural learning experiences that inspire global citizenship,” said Kevin Hickey, CEO of EIL.
“There is great interest from Latin America and Asia to send more students”
“AFS’s dynamic new global strategy and volunteer-driven operations worldwide will help us expand access to international education through AFS’s innovative and research-based program models.”
Hickey told The PIE News that the agreement follows a trial, with students from a number of European countries studying in Ireland.
“The interest has been very strong and we are well on target to exceed 100 students for the school year commencing in August 2018,” he added.
Daniel Obst, president and CEO of AFS Intercultural Programs, confirmed that the pilot program in Ireland had grown significantly, starting with about 10 students three years ago.
The success of these high school exchange pilot programs with EIL makes it a natural candidate for joining the AFS Network, he continued.
The market also has potential for growth as 10.6% of students enrolled in higher education in Ireland are internationals – that percentage is even lower at the secondary level.
“We encourage young people to step out of their comfort zones to explore countries”
“AFS Ireland will allow us to expand our impact in more countries in three ways: develop more global citizens, globalise schools institutions, and expand access to intercultural education in more countries,” Obst said.
AFS Ireland expects most of its students studying in Ireland to come from Europe, but also anticipates students from further afield to take advantage of the country’s culture, educational opportunities and perceived safety.
“There is great interest from Latin America and Asia to send more students to places where they can also learn English as part of their study abroad experience,” Obst detailed.
Hickey also confirmed that discussions were being held with Brazil and China.
The country that makes up 9% of the global English language travel market also has ample potential to send Irish students to study abroad. Youth accounts for one third of Ireland’s population, according to AFS.
“We encourage young people to step out of their comfort zones to explore countries they may not have considered,” Obst stated, adding that AFS provides programs in 98 countries that Irish teenagers could benefit from.
“We are focusing on semester and trimester high school exchange programs, in addition to summer language programs in different parts of the world.”