Local Fianna Fáil Councillor, Frankie Keena, who is a member of the Governing Body of Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT ) has welcomed the joint signing of a memorandum of understanding between AIT and Dublin City University (DCU ) confirming plans for a new four year undergraduate degree in teaching at the progressive third level institution.
“It is planned to roll out this degree programme in September 2022 at the Athlone campus so it will be on offer in next year’s CAO.
“Students who complete this degree course will be able to teach in post primary level schools in the subject areas of technology, engineering, design and communications graphics. Currently there is no such programme available in the northern half of the country for school leavers interested in a career in teaching these STEM subjects.
“This new degree is an added bonus to the work being carried out by Professor Ciaran O’Cathain and his team in driving AIT’s application to become a Technological University (TU ) which is so much appreciated.
“Now that the International Expert Panel has completed its work on the AIT-LIT application, we all are waiting with bated breath on the Minister for Higher Education’s announcement.
“TU status for Athlone will give a massive economic boost to the town as it continues on its journey to becoming a regional growth centre,” Cllr Keena concluded.
