All your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

I graduated with an honours arts degree from NUI Galway in 2001. I then secured a position in the banking sector, and am currently working as a bank official in Co Mayo.

Recently I have started to consider a career in teaching, having read articles encouraging men to do so.

I have researched the various 18-month graduate diploma and higher diploma courses in education in St Patrick's College, Dublin, Froebel College, Co Dublin and the Marino Institute of Education, also in Dublin and also in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and while these would give me the appropriate qualification I need, financially I cannot afford to relocate and take a year and a half off work. I read an article on these pages recently concerning an online course from Hibernia College, but I'm not sure whether I could take such a programme, while continuing to work full-time.

A career is a lifelong journey of exploration that leads us through a wide range of roles. It is not easy when you have started down a road in one occupation, and begun to enjoy the fruits of your years of study to consider changing direction and returning to full-time study, foregoing the income that you now enjoy.

As you mention, if you are prepared to relocate and give up your current job there are options available to you from a number of teacher-training colleges in Dublin and Limerick. However, as you also mention we did cover the online teacher-training option on these pages some weeks back.

Hibernia College's Higher Diploma in Primary Education is delivered using a blended format, combining online content delivery with on-site face-to-face sessions. The course is accredited by Hetac and is fully recognised by the Department of Education and Science, with graduates starting on the same pay scales as those from the other teacher-training colleges.

The programme was designed specifically to encourage more people to consider teaching, by providing a more flexible route into the profession. Its blend of online and face-to-face tuition is ideal for those, such as yourself, who wish to continue working while studying. The programme is also suited to anyone who does not have easy access to one of the colleges of education, or who doesn't have time to spend commuting to and from lectures daily.

Approximately 45 per cent of the 18-month course is delivered online in the form of downloadable lectures and live online tutorials. Face-to-face lectures take place on two Saturdays each month in 20 local education centres around the State. Three weeks are also spent attending lectures in the Gaeltacht.

The programme does offer a great degree of flexibility, but still requires a considerable time commitment. For example in addition to scheduled lectures and private study time, there are also 14 weeks of classroom teaching practice to be completed. If you decide to take up the programme, you are going to have to forego a huge amount of your current free time and negotiate blocks of unpaid leave with your current employer. But if it is what you now want to do with your life, I would encourage you to go for it.

Entry requirements for the course are similar to those for the other colleges of education and include a primary degree (Hetac level 8 or equivalent), which you have, and a minimum C3 in honours Leaving Cert Irish. There are two intakes each year in February and October and selection is by interview, conducted in English and Irish. Tuition fees for the course are currently €7,565. These are eligible for tax relief at the marginal rate.

Full details on entry requirements, fees and schedules are available on the college website at www.hiberniacollege.net or contact the admissions office directly. Tel: 01-6610168.

Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, Dublin. E-mail questions to bmoooney@irish-times.ie