The privately-run college which is offering on-line teacher training claimed yesterday it is being subjected to "unfair vilification and abuse".
Hibernia College, which offers a graduate diploma course, says it is being targeted by "vested interests within the traditional teacher training sector". The course, which was approved by HETAC - the higher education awards body - has stirred considerable controversy.
Yesterday, the Fine Gael education spokeswoman, Ms Olwyn Enright, said the Minister must ensure that the new course meets the same high standards of the traditional teacher training colleges.
The existing teacher training colleges have said the decision to approve the Hibernia course should provoke a national outcry. In recent days, the course has also come under attack from graduate students at the various teacher training colleges.
But last night, Hibernia's executive chairman Dr Seán Rowland claimed there were "vested interests at work who simply cannot accept change and modernity in the manner in which teacher education is provided in Ireland". He said these people "fear competition by the private sector and are seeking to protect their own patch.
"We have stayed silent in the face of an incredibly vicious campaign. We have been publicly insulted and pilloried on a constant basis but it is now time to demand that the interests involved should desist from this activity." He said the Hibernia course provides the "same required academic coursework, probationary teaching practice, in-school inspections, examinations and time in the Gaeltacht, as provided by the State training colleges".
Ms Enright said the decision to approve Hibernia represented a major departure from a situation where all teachers were trained in dedicated teacher training colleges. "It is therefore right and proper that this new development should be subject to considerable scrutiny. It is difficult to see how important interpersonal skills can be developed effectively online," she said.
