Hibernia College Expands Into Early Childhood Education With New B.Ed. (Hons.) Programme

Editorial Team

This post was published by the Irish Business Focus editorial team

Announcement at virtual conferring coincides with 20th anniversary of College’s foundation

Hibernia College is to expand its range of courses with the introduction of its first Level 8 programme, a Bachelor of Education (Honours) Degree in Early Childhood Education, enrolment for which will take place in Autumn 2021.

Satisfying Early Education guidelines laid out in the latest documents published by Government and the Department of Education and Skills, the 4-year, 240-credit award at Level 8 is a blended learning programme involving face-to-face and online engagements with Professional Practice Placement and well-structured Professional Support Team mentoring to support students.

The announcement comes in a week when the College will confer Masters degrees in Primary and Post-Primary Education on 840 graduates at a virtual conferring ceremony being held on Friday, 11th December, coinciding with celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the College’s foundation.

Saffron Rosenstock, from Dalkey – pictured with her children Myles (aged 5) and Maggie Byrne (8) – has double cause for celebration as she is one of 840 students from all 26 counties to graduate from Hibernia College with Primary or Post-Primary teaching qualifications.

In addition to receiving her qualification at a virtual online ceremony, coinciding with celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the College’s foundation, Saffron is honoured with An Duais Ghaeilge Gael Linn – the Gael Linn Irish prize, for achieving the highest grade in Irish from her cohort on the Primary programme.

Speaking at the conferring, Dr Mary Kelly, Head of the School of Education at Hibernia College, will congratulate the Class of 2020 on the way in which they responded to the challenges of completing their programme during a global pandemic. Recognising the impact that COVID-19 has had, and the obligation it has imposed on the College to confer its degrees online, she will express gratitude to “the many graduates who worked on the frontline during that time, in hospitals, nursing homes, supermarkets and caring for elderly”.

In addition, Dr Kelly will remind graduates of their “unique position as teachers to shape the future through each and every one of their students”. Calling on them to “be the teacher who never stops learning”, she will add that “a good teacher can inspire young minds to envision a brighter future and give them skills to make that vision a reality”.