Madam, – I am contacting you regarding the article on the front page of The Irish Times, "No jobs for over 2,000 newly qualified teachers, say unions" (April 14th).
In the course of the article Hibernia College fees are highlighted: “Students at Hibernia pay €8,250 for the 18-month course”, whereas the other college fees are not stated. This omission could imply that our fees are considerably more than the other colleges of education. This is not the case. Firstly, our fees are of the same order as the other colleges. However, the other colleges receive additional fees from the taxpayer through the Department of Education and Science. The Hibernia College option is much less financially challenging for the student. It allows them to study locally without relocating while the flexibility of the programmes facilitates those who wish to continue working and earning while studying for their qualification.
Whereas many of our students are already in employment, the article states, “Most of the 600 students who will graduate from Hibernia College, the online teacher training facility, also have little prospect of securing employment”. This is inaccurate and many primary school principals headhunt our graduates who are much sought after because of their diverse backgrounds, age, maturity and previous experience.
Also, describing Hibernia College as a “facility” implies that we are less than the HETAC-accredited college that we are.
Our Higher Diploma in Arts in Primary Education now provides more fully qualified primary teachers than any other programme in the country and the majority of our students join the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation before graduating, whereas the article erroneously implies that we are not a “main” provider. Hibernia College is also a recognised and accredited provider of teachers in Britain through our multiple university partnerships in higher education.
I have always found The Irish Timesto be fair and reasonable and I wish you continued success. – Yours, etc,