The first free interactive education website for students, teachers and parents, skoool.ie, was unveiled last night by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
The site, which will be developed over a five-year period, initially contains online interactive lessons in science and business.
Among the other elements are exam tips, careers information, financial advice and education news. It will have a particular emphasis on the Leaving Cert exams.
The site was developed by The Irish Times, Intel and AIB and is free to users from this morning at www.skoool.ie
Mr Ahern said each of the three companies had brought its considerable expertise to the development of the site.
The information on the site is designed to complement that already given to students in their classrooms. The site seeks to explain particularly difficult parts of the second-level curriculum.
Students can log on to online tutorials in Junior Cert science and Junior and Leaving Cert business. The online tutorials will eventually cover all the main Leaving Cert subjects as the site develops.
From next month the site will also be providing detailed revision notes in Leaving Cert Irish, English, maths, French, science and business.
For post-primary teachers, the site offers free online tuition for the European Computer Driver's Licence (ECDL).
Ms Siobhan Greer, chairwoman of the Irish Science Teachers' Association, said skoool.ie was the first online resource tailored to the Irish curriculum.
The site was developed using a panel of leading teachers in a range of subjects.
Ms Rose Mary Lynch, president of the Business Studies Teachers' Association, said: "The content on skoool.ie has been developed by experts in their chosen field. It is interactive and engaging. I would recommend skoool.ie to other teachers."
One of the main sections of the site is called Exam Centre, which seeks to help students through their exams. It will cover core subjects at Leaving and Junior Cert level. Past papers are analysed and revision tips offered.
A study timetable "wizard" which tries to help students manage their time is included.
The site also contains several "life-learning" channels, which provide content on subjects such as careers, parenting, managing money and going to college.
The three companies are committed to the project over five years, and a major investment has been made.
The managing director of The Irish Times, Ms Maeve Donovan, said: "Our commitment to education is not about short-term circulation-building. It is a substantial strand of our paper's content every day of every year".
Intel is already heavily involved in education in the Republic. Through its Teach to the Future program, it hopes to train more than 6,000 teachers in information technology.
AIB, through its Better Ireland Programme, supports several projects, particularly in areas that concern schoolgoers, such as drugs, alcohol and poverty.