iTeach, the online teacher education programme for science and maths teachers in England  founded by Hibernia College, is expanding to a consortium of five universities across England in order to address the shortage of quality professionals in these areas. The iTeach programme is targeting 750 teachers and is funded by the UK government’s Training and Development Agency (TDA), which is responsible for the training and development of the school workforce. iTeach uses the same learning management system and superior academic standards as the Hibernia College’s primary teacher programme in Ireland.

Science teacher shortage
iTeach was founded in 2005 by Hibernia College who chose Canterbury Christ Church University to form a partnership to develop the programme.  The primary goal is to address the shortage of maths, physics and chemistry teachers in England by providing a more flexible route to becoming a qualified teacher. iTeach has proven particularly popular with those currently working in industry who wish to change careers. This has had the added benefit of attracting people into teaching with an understanding of the real life application of their subject area. Graduates working in finance, technology, biotechnology, banking and IT are increasing making the move to teaching in the current economic climate.

Hibernia College in England
In Ireland, Hibernia College is best known for its online Higher Diploma in Arts in Primary Education which is now the largest provider of the country’s newly qualified primary teachers. Through iTeach, Hibernia College is expanding into the UK where it already has graduates and students in Pharmaceutical Medicine. This latest development will see up to an additional 750 teachers in England study for their teaching qualifications each year through the use of Hibernia College’s online Higher Education Learning Management System (HELMS). It also puts Hibernia College in the unique position of providing teacher education in both Ireland and the UK.

Further expansion
Dr. Seán Rowland, president of Hibernia College, commented: “We’re very excited about this new expansion of the iTeach programme. We now have a successful model for educating second level science and maths teachers which can be further scaled up and expanded into other countries where ever there is a need for maths, physics and chemistry teachers.

Ireland has played a significant role in global education through religious orders, NGOs and now the growing expansion of Hibernia College. In the provision of highly qualified teachers Hibernia College is reinforcing the development of our knowledge economy and putting to work many of our finest educators in a variety of settings worldwide. Much of this work can be done from a base in Ireland, however the World Bank has identified shortages of millions of teachers in countries around the word and many of our Irish teachers are enriching their careers through teaching in some of these communities.”