ACCORDING TO Father Michael Drumm, a lecturer in theology at the Mater Dei Institute of Education, his undergraduate students all have at least one characteristic in common: they all want to teach.

They also have the capacity and motivation to learn how to teach, he says.

Valerie Roe, from Greenhills in Dublin, is typical. "I always wanted to teach," the fourth-year student says. "I just had to decide what I wanted to teach. English and religion were the subjects I enjoyed most at school." English is an optional arts subjects in the bachelor of religious science course, so "the course was ideal, really".

Almost 300 students attend the college on Clonliffe Road in north Dublin each day. Those doing the bachelor's degree concentrate on three separate strands of their studies: over four years, students take religious studies, an arts subject (either music, history or English) and education, which involves the professional preparation for teaching.

"I have enjoyed the course, it's very interesting," Roe says. As for the teacher training, "We are not thrown in at the deep end. We are brought into it slowly."

Roe's experience of religious studies at second level also warmed her to the subject. "The religion teaching I got at school was completely different. It would not have been theology-based - we did social issues at school, which I really enjoyed. All the way through school, religion was something I thought I'd like to into.

Also, there were one or two teachers in my school who had gone to Mater Dei; I was taught by practising students from Mater Dei; I also came to open days. So I wasn't coming in blind - I knew about it."

Today she is eager to get out into a school to begin work. "After four years I'm looking forward to a change.

John Corcoran, from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, also always wanted to teach. "After that it was a matter of where to go. Mater Dei had a good reputation of bringing out great teachers, and I wanted to get to know my faith better.

"I found the studies totally different to the religion we did at school. We went into the history of liturgy, for example. It was a fascinating course.

Corcoran is also impatient to get started in the profession. "My teaching practice experience has been very good in both primary and right across the board. I'm looking forward to being in the classroom."

THE COURSE has been in existence for the past 30 years and there are up to 60 students in each year of the degree course at the institute. According to Sister Marcellina O'Sullivan, the director of studies. Most applicants have a good understanding of what Mater Dei is about "career guidance is very good out in the schools" - and most of the graduates go into teaching.

First-year students at Mater Dei are sent into primary schools for their first experience of teaching practice. "We start them teaching in first year, at primary level," she explains. "How can you teach in secondary school unless you understand where the confirmation of children comes from?

"By the end of second year they are ready to go into the secondary schools. In fourth year they have taught the whole range right through. That's what makes them very good educators. It is the emphasis that we place on teaching."

With religious education about to be introduced as an exam subject in the State's schools, Marcellina O'Sullivan says they are "quite confident that our course prepares our students for teaching religion as an examination subject". She points out that some of the college's graduates are already preparing students for exams - in Northern Ireland, for example.

The introduction of religion as an exam subject "is the best way forward", Michael Drumm says. "We have the experience of examining religion at third level - it will be mirroring at second level what we have been doing all along," he explains.

The central part of the three-pronged course, religious studies, is made up of six distinct but inter-related subjects - scripture, systematic theology, moral theology, liturgy, religious education and philosophy. The education programme, meanwhile, is the "teacher-training" component. Finally, the arts subject is the third essential element: at the beginning of first year students choose English, history or music, according to personal interest and aptitude, and study this through to degree level.

THE DEGREE prepares graduates for careers as religious educators. Those who graduate with the "BRelSc" degree are also equipped to become recognised teachers of their chosen arts subjects in second-level schools.

A growing number of graduates have also branched out, going into broadcast journalism and other diverse fields.

The institute has well over 1,000 graduates in Ireland and there are graduates working in many countries around the world. Although the institute is a Catholic college, established under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin in 1966, there are and there have been Protestant students "at all levels" in the college.

Today the college is a lay institute. As the demand for religious teachers increases, Drumm says the numbers of non-Catholic students attending is likely to increase.

There are other courses on offer at the institute, including three graduate diploma courses in religious studies. The main focus is on the four-year undergraduate degree programme however.

"It is often very difficult today to be a teacher, particularly a teacher of religion," Marcellina O'Sullivan says. "It is a career that is best pursued by those who have inner resilience, a reflective disposition, a love of teaching, an open mind and a generous heart."