When Hibernia College got the Government's seal of approval for its online teacher-training courses many were suspicious. There are now more than 1,000 teachers who did their training online. So has the venture affected the quality of teaching or is the brave new world here?

When Hibernia College launched its online primary teacher-training program three years ago it was met by strident opposition from powerful quarters. The colleges of education claimed that Hibernia represented an attack on the professional status of teachers and a threat to the well-being of primary schoolchildren. Some 800 student teachers marched to protest against the decision to approve the new online course, claiming that the accreditation process was not independent, and that the move represented the sell-out of their profession. The INTO regarded the new privately-run course as a prelude to cutbacks in the State teacher-training system.

Three years on, Hibernia has just celebrated the graduation of its second crop of qualified primary teachers. Despite opposition from all the major professional stakeholders in primary education, there are now over one thousand Hibernia-trained primary teachers in the system. There have been no complaints from principals, teachers, students or parents about their level of professionalism. The widely demanded independent review of Hibernia's online course has not taken place, although the newly established Teaching Council has plans to review all teacher education programmes in Ireland in the near future. In the meantime, aspirant teachers are voting with their feet, and applications for Hibernia's online course are growing exponentially.

"In our first year of operation over 90 per cent of our applications came from unqualified teachers already working in the primary school system," says Hibernia president Sean Rowland. "At that time, the number of unqualified teachers in Irish schools was in the thousands. Now, we have applicants from a wide cross section of backgrounds - we receive dozens of applications every day." Rowland, a former teacher himself, took the attacks of three years ago on the chin and pressed ahead with enrolment despite some rather vicious accusations of a profit-motivated move to provide "yellow pack" training for teachers. He says that the course was underestimated and misunderstood by many critics at the time.

"The course uses a mixture of online content, live tutorials and face-to-face classes, with less than half of all classes conducted online. At the time, critics said it was impossible to deliver critical aspects of teacher training such as PE, the Gaeltacht module and practical teaching over the internet. Of course they were right, but our course has always included the same number of class contact hours as any traditional course as well as an on-site PE training module at Easter, a one-month Gaeltacht module in the summer and fortnightly face-to-face tuition time for other sections of the primary curriculum which are not deliverable online. That was always the case."

The difference, according to Rowland, is that students who are already working, as the majority of Hibernia trainees are, can do half of their course work from home and the other half in education centres convenient to where they live and work, rather than having to give up their jobs and move to a college of education locale. This has opened up the option of teacher training to a much wider population of students, says Rowland, not least those who are already teaching, but without a qualification. One of the course graduates was acting principal in a national school at the time of application.

Many others are coming from banking, from IT and from working in the home - the course is popular options for graduates who have had to give up work to raise children, as much of the face-to-face tuition takes place on weekends.

At €6,600 for 18 months' tuition, the course does not come cheap. At the time of its establishment, some critics accused the private college of offering a training option that excluded the less well off. However, as a part-time postgraduate course the programme would never have been part of the free fees scheme anyway, even if it had been offered through a State training college. Part-time learners are discriminated against in all sectors of education, not just teacher training.

At this point, however, Rowland feels that the college is earning its stripes and should be welcomed by the educational fraternity. "We've talked the talk for many years about becoming an e-learning hub. There was massive Government investment in Media Lab Europe, which is now closed. The bottom line is that we are doing it. We came into profit a year and a half earlier than planned, and that's without the capitation fees that the colleges of education receive from the Government. We need to look at integrating Hibernia more into the mainstream."

John Carr, president of the INTO, says that the INTO has always rejected the "yellow pack" tag for any student teacher on the Hibernia course.

"The INTO demanded that the Department of Education and Science commission a high level evaluation of the Hibernia Course. This did not happen," says Carr. "The union sought assurances that the Department of Education and Science would apply the same standards of inspection that apply to other courses to the Hibernia course. The INTO is satisfied that this has been done properly. Since the establishment of the Hibernia course, the newly formed Teaching Council has been given the responsibility of ensuring the highest standards of teacher education in all colleges. The INTO will insist that the council ensures that the high standards of teacher preparation in Ireland are maintained. It has been INTO policy for many years that there should be alternative routes into primary teaching without sacrificing the evident quality of teacher education."

The student teachers of the colleges of education have not come around to the idea of online training for teachers. Shaun Conaghan, student union president at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin claims that his union remains "firmly in opposition to the Hibernia Course".

"I sympathise with the aforementioned students teachers, as many struggle to secure the limited positions available to postgraduate courses and many do not have time to engage in full-time courses due to family commitments," says Conaghan. "However, Hibernia teacher training is not the solution, as this course places a diluted emphasis on practical work and will destroy the quality of education Irish children receive. The present full-time course is highly intensive and a part-time stay-at-home approach cannot possibly equip people to teach the department's own curriculum. How HETAC can possibly consider a part-time internet-based course to be the equivalent of a university accredited full-time course and how Minister Hanafin can defend it is beyond belief."

Denis Courtney of St Brigid's National School in Beech Park, Dublin does not agree. He has employed one graduate of Hibernia and given placements to two students of the online college. "All three teachers were mature coming into teaching. They have all come from different walks of life and brought great benefits to the classroom as a result. I believe that the fact that they chose to train part-time while working in other sectors displayed a real commitment to the profession, and it shows."

Courtney's newest recruit has helped to set up an IT-based support programme for students with special language needs, and he believes that she brought this expertise from her previous role in the IT sector and her training, part of which was delivered online.

"During the dotcom boom we lost many potential teachers to other sectors," Rowland says. "By providing more diverse routes into teaching, we finally have the opportunity to bring them back."

Primary Teaching

There are roughly 4,000 BEd (Bachelor of Education) students studying to become primary school teachers in the Republic of Ireland each year. These students are studying in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra; Mary Immaculate College, Limerick; Marino College; Froebel College; Church of Ireland College of Education; and St Angela's College, Sligo. This number includes students who are taking part in the postgraduate courses in some of these colleges. These courses take place over three years and on average, students in these colleges do about 16 weeks of teaching practice during their degree course. This teaching practice is broken up into blocks of around three to four weeks at a time, and is done at set intervals during the three years.

One of the main issues which affects students financially during their teaching practice is the cost of travelling to the school where they are placed. This is especially significant for students in the larger BEd colleges such as St Patrick's, Drumcondra and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick as they must travel further away from the college area in order to find schools to accommodate the large number of students that are studying there.

More than 13 per cent of the elite group scoring 450 CAO points or more in the Leaving Cert go on to teach and the competition for places is intense.

Some 90 per cent of primary school teachers under 40 are women and the Department of Education has launched a promotion campaign to attract men into primary teaching.

Teachers enjoy a minimum starting salary of €€33,000 a year and an index- linked State-funded pension.

Three-year level 8 bachelor of education degrees are offered in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin.

Coláiste Mhuire (Marino, Dublin), Froebel College (Sion Hill, Dublin) and the Church of Ireland College (Rathmines, Dublin) offer three-year level 7 ordinary-level degrees. These three colleges offer their degrees in conjunction with Trinity College, where it is possible to obtain a level 8 degree by taking a fourth year after graduation.

The department reserves up to 10 per cent of places for Gaeltacht applicants. Mary Immaculate reserves up to 5 per cent of places for applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Those who come within 40 points of the cut-off point are considered under this scheme.

GRADUATE ENTRY TO PRIMARY TEACHING

For those who take an undergraduate degree in any discipline at level 8 and who meet the minimum entry requirements in Gaeilge, English, and maths, there is a graduate entry route to primary teaching.

Entry to this 18-month programme, which normally begins in February, is by interview.

Hibernia College also offers a recognised online postgraduate entry option. Points are high (450 plus) for most teaching courses.

Only students with a minimum of a C3 in higher-level Irish will be eligible for a place on any of the above courses. The Church of Ireland college requires higher-level Irish. It may accept a D grade, but only if there are not enough applicants with a C3 or better.

Aine De Ris

Hibernia graduate

I was secondary teacher for 20 years but I never lost my ambition to teach at primary level. When I left school I went to Maynooth and while I enjoyed my time there and my subsequent work in post-primary, with three small children it was simply not possible to go back to college.

When my third child was born I took a career break and heard about the new online training option for primary teaching. It was perfect for me because I could do the work in my own home at night. All the face-to-face tution was on weekends or in school holidays so it was perfect. I did my first bloc of teaching practice early on in my studies and was offered substitute teaching after that. It was great because it meant that I was working in classrooms the whole way through my studies, which I would not have been able to do on a full-time course.

The experience of studying at home was a very enriching one. I learned so much about computers and I am much more comfortable using them in the classroom now. When we had tutorials on subjects, my primary school age children would listen in on the speakers and we'd all learn. Most of all, I think the experience taught them, and me, that it is possible to make a change at any stage in your life and to realise your ambitions with a bit of determination and hard work. I think it's brilliant that a training option now exists for people like me who would otherwise not be able to get into primary teaching mid-career.

John Molloy

Hibernia graduate

I worked for 10 years in the IT industry but I always felt that teaching was in my blood. I have a three-year-old daughter and my wife is a teacher, so I often thought about leaving the nine to five and going for something that would fit in better with home life. My father and both of my sisters are teachers so I had a good idea of what was involved. I know it's not an easy job but it's something I always felt I would be good at.

I fell into the technology sector after leaving school, and until Hibernia came along I was not in a position to give up work and go back to teaching. If I'd gone to a college of education I wouldn't have been able to pay the mortgage.

I found the study easy and had no problem working online. I also found it quite easy to get a job - I think many schools are trying to redress the gender balance in teaching and bring in more male teachers.

I don't think I lost out on anything because I did an online course. I had the same amount of teaching practice time as any other teacher trainee and I think my years in the private sector and my IT skills give my teaching a dimension that a school leaver doesn't have.

Coming from an IT background has been a great benefit to me in my teaching so far. I use PowerPoint presentations for classes, we have a class website and a Podcast set up already. I hope to use it even more in the future.