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THE EDUCATION PROFILE: Sean Rowland, Founder of Hibernia College:Sean Rowland, founder of Hibernia College, has just won a major award for entrepreneurship. His five-year-old online university has won him praise and blame in equal measure - but whatever is said about Hibernia, the numbers are stacking up and the students keep coming

IRELAND LOVES an entrepreneur. They create jobs, generate wealth and improve the national image. However, educational entrepreneurs are a special case. As Ray Kearns of the Institute of Education might tell you, making money from learning doesn't impress everyone. Sean Rowland, founder of Hibernia College, has just been awarded the Ernst and Young Emerging Entrepreneur Award for 2008. His five-year-old online university has won him praise and blame in equal measure - but whatever is said about Hibernia, the numbers are stacking up.

Hibernia College provides postgraduate courses online to professionals seeking to gain a new qualification. It's the first online college in Ireland to receive Higher Education and Training Awards Council (Hetac) accreditation. There are thousands of happy Hibernia graduates are already at large and the college is gaining a foothold in the UK.

Hibernia's flagship programme is the postgraduate degree in primary school teaching. This is the product that has been raising hackles in education for four years. Primary teaching is a coveted career in Ireland. Before Hibernia, the only way to qualify as a primary teacher was on a full-time course in one of the five accredited colleges of education. Now, thanks to Hibernia, students can gain a teaching qualification online, without having to attend a college of education or giving up a job.

It's a winning formula - 325 students enrol on the 18-month programme at every intake, and pay €8,250 for the privilege. There are nearly 2,000 Hibernia graduates now teaching in Irish primary schools. Candidates must have a primary degree and are chosen by a panel that takes into account their professional experience and other qualifications as well as their performance in the Leaving Cert.

Hibernia teacher training is delivered using a mix of online content, online tutorials and face-to-face tuition. Academic staff are spread throughout the State and all work part-time. Many have other jobs working in education. The college does not, for the present, offer academic tenure. The model is profitable, popular with students, has the imprimatur of the Department of Education and Science and the tentative support of the INTO. School principals purport to value the injection of mature, professional people into the education workforce, and Hibernia graduates have had no difficulty securing employment - yet.

Nonetheless, rumblings of disquiet have surrounded Hibernia since the teacher-training programme was accredited by Hetac in 2003. Many involved in education are uncomfortable with the model and suspicious of the man.

"Why is an educator getting an award for entrepreneurship?" a senior academic wants to know. "Why has he been getting such a soft landing in the medi? Hibernia is a commercial operation. What do we know about how it is run? How many full-time staff are there? What is their research output; what have they contributed to educational debate?"

Some academics point to the fact that Hibernia is not represented on the Teaching Council as proof that it is not a "real" teaching college but a private company.

When Hibernia's teacher-training programme was first accredited, its most outspoken critics were the students from the traditional colleges of education. The students' union of St Patrick's College in Drumcondra took to the streets to complain about the advent of "yellow pack" teachers. They rejected the idea that their hard-won training could be imparted on the internet. They have not mellowed in the interim. "In an ideal world, we l would like to see Hibernia discontinued, but it's saving the Government money, so that's not going to happen anytime soon," says Eoin Bolger, president of St Pat's SU.

At least one college of education academic agrees. "Hibernia will probably do well out of the education cutbacks, as they provide a cheap teacher-training option for the Government. We'll end up with no teacher-training infrastructure at all."

Despite the recent announcement of cuts in teacher numbers, there has been no reduction in training places at the colleges of education. If graduates have trouble finding jobs next year, the attitude of some newly-minted teachers may harden. For now, it remains a matter of principle.

"Online training is not a suitable model for initial teacher training," one educator insists. "Teacher training is not about information, it's about professional formation. You wouldn't train a doctor online. Accrediting Hibernia was an unwise policy decision."

Over the course of the last 20 years, Rowland has built up a deluxe network of friends and contacts through his work in Ireland-US relations. His is a rich CV - a blueprint for high achievement.

Sean Rowland was born in Castlebar, Co Mayo to a farming family. He trained as a primary school teacher in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra and taught in Beaumont School, Dublin for five years before leaving for Boston College in US. Ironically, it is in Boston that he began to build up his vast network of Irish political and business connections.

While completing a Master's in educational administration and a PhD in curriculum instruction and administration, Rowland established the Centre for Irish Management to provide a networking hub for executive and political exchange programmes between Ireland and the US, to encourage job creation and professional development here. The US government provided $2 million in funding for the Irish Institute, as it became known.

"When Sean came back to Ireland to set up Hibernia in 2000, he spent the first two years on market research and building up contacts," says a colleague. "That's Sean's thing. He has great social skills. He can assess the mood of a room. He remembers details about people."

The first programme to be accredited in Hibernia was the Bachelor in Criminal Justice in 2003. Primary teaching was accredited by Hetac in 2004. While Hibernia's detractors question Hetac's decision, those involved insist that the college jumped through all the same hoops as any other education provider.

Tom Mitchell, former president of Trinity College Dublin, is chair of Hibernia's academic committee and a champion for the quality of the courses and the mission of the college. "The college set out to make qualifications more accessible to people in work. My role is to make sure that the academic quality of the programmes stand up," says Mitchell. He dismisses Hibernia's critics in academia on the grounds that they are not comparing like with like. "Hibernia has a different mission to a university. The campus creates an undergraduate atmosphere which is a special and valuable part of education. Hibernia is not competing on that level. This is professional education. Ireland is very weak in professional postgraduate education - online delivery is one of the great tools we can use to address that. Hibernia is a pioneer."

Four principals interviewed for this article expressed confidence in Hibernia graduates - hardly a representative sample, but positive nonetheless. All expressed the opinion that these postgraduates came to the job with maturity and experience.

Despite positive feedback, one member of Hibernia's staff concedes that the college will always struggle for credibility in certain quarters. "I don't know if we'll even win over the colleges of education. We feel we should be represented on the Teaching Council; we're working on that."

Rowland is working on a lot of things. Now that the college has established a track record in teacher training, the company has been taken on in several UK boroughs to provide online education to primary and post-primary teachers, funded by the UK government. Rowland is now turning his attentions to the developing world, where there is a huge need for teacher-training services.

"Sean is motivated by education, rather than by business," says a friend. "He is a primary school teacher by training and that's where his heart lies. He is also an ideas man, and innovator." Fianna Fáil's Mary O'Rourke has been a close friend of Rowland's since he sought her help with research when she was Minister for Education over 20 years ago. O'Rourke came up with the name Hibernia College. "He's brilliant," O'Rourke declares. "There's no end to what he's putting his mind to. I couldn't understand why there was no big splash about him in the media when he won the Emerging Entrepreneur Award. His answer? 'Not everyone thinks I'm as wonderful as you do, Mary'."

Class Distinctions

Sean Rowland had just been awarded the Ernst and Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, but his hugely successful online training programme for primary teachers has earned him equal measures of kudos and scorn.

Here's what his critics in academia say:

"I'd hate the see a situation where teacher education is only available to those who can afford to pay a private businessman."

"Hibernia calls itself a college, but it does not offer the same transparency as universities in the public sector."

"Initial teacher education cannot be provided online. It's not about information, it's about professional formation."

"In an ideal world we would like to see Hibernia discontinued, but it's saving the Government money so that's not going to happen soon."

Here's what Rowland's supporters say:

"Postgraduate professional education is a weak spot in Irish education services. Online education will be an important tool. Rowland is a pioneer."

"He's brilliant. He has a very active mind. His teachers are snapped up and before long his detractors will have to change their tune."

"Sean is motivated by education. He is a primary school teacher at heart."

"Hibernia teachers are very well-prepared. They really want to teach. You have to be very disciplined to work online and any that have done placements in my school have been extremely motivated."

© 2008 The Irish Times