Students in rural towns and villages across the greater Midlands region will now be able to receive third-level education through remote hubs under a new ‘Learning in the Hubs’ initiative which is the first of its kind in Ireland.
The initiative was launched on Wednesday by Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris and Minister for Rural Development Heather Humphreys at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) campus in Athlone.
TUS faciliate the service in conjunction with Connected Hubs, a Government-supported network on workspaces, in 11 towns dispersed throughout the counties of Longford, Westmeath, Laois, Offaly, Galway, and Roscommon.
The towns involved are Ballinasloe, Birr, Boyle, Edenderry, Edgeworthstown, Mountmellick, Mountrath, Mullingar, Portarlington, Portlaoise and Tullamore.
Two new courses to be delivered exclusively online were also announced by TUS in parallel with the remote study launch, a level 8 Bachelor of Business degree and a level 6 Certificate in Business Entrepreneurship.
The aim of the new plan is to allow students to undertake education in a shared environment, replicating the college experience in rural Ireland, according to Minister Simon Harris.
“We need to move beyond this idea that to get the full-time college experience you need to be a full-time student. We have to be able to offer full quality education to people studying on a part time basis,” he said.
“There’s a world of difference between trying to do your college degree in the box-bedroom of your parents’ house, or at the kitchen table, and being able to go to a professional set up in your community where you can mix with other people.”
Through TUS, students will now be able to access third-level education as high as level 9 - a Master’s or equivalent - in remote working hubs.
Minister for Rural Development Heather Humphries said it was her ambition to make Ireland “the number one provider of remote working hubs in Ireland” at the launch.
She noted that there were now 319 remote working hubs in the country, where there were 4,775 working desks available and 431 meeting rooms.
“Why would you want to spend hours commuting to Dublin, which we know many students are, when you can access third level education in rural areas across this region?” said Minister Humphries.
“This initiative is about bringing education right into the heart of our community, it’s about breathing life into our towns and rural villages and making it more attractive to leave our cities and come home.”
The full list of locations includes:
- Webmill, Mountmellick
- Co:Worx, Edgeworthstown
- Stream, Birr
- Bloom HQ, Mountrath
- Vision 85, Portlaoise
- The Junction, Tullamore
- E-Hive, Edenderry
- The Spool Factory, Boyle
- Portarlington Enterprise Centre, Portarlington
- Ballinasloe Enterprise Centre, Ballinasloe
- Mullingar e-Working Centre, Mullingar.
