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Philanthropist’s global vision for free degrees via the internet
The entrepreneurship of one Galwayman reached the floors of a New York courtroom when Dylan Lewis, a 22-year-old drug offender was ordered by a Lockport City Court judge to take an online course provided by the Parkmore-based ALISON.
ALISON was set up in 2007, by Mike Feerick, to provide free online education in an effort to develop essential workplace skills.
Instead of incarcerating Mr Lewis or imposing community service, Judge William J Watson instructed that he should commit to a course on the e-learning platform.
Since then, a further three people have been given a similar order. That is according to the Galwayman behind ALISON, who believes that free education could be the solution to a problem that has long needed solving.
It is now generally accepted that in some cases, education could be far more useful in the rehabilitation of those convicted of petty crime. However, the costs of such education have to be considered when imposing such a sentence.
“The problem with any judge, anywhere in the world, whether it is in Ireland or New York, imposing an educational sentence of some sort, is the fact that they have to be cognisant of the cost,” said Mike.
Mike believed that the imposition of an educational sentence does not have to be confined to those who have committed crimes like those of Mr Lewis.
“Why can’t it be for every type of crime? Even if we have it for white collar crime, some of these bankers up in Dublin – why wouldn’t David Drumm get a good ethics course to do?”
ALISON began ten years ago when Mike spotted the opportunity of providing free education in the form of a sustainable, for-profit social enterprise, made easier with the decline in broadband and server costs and the growth of online advertising.
“I guess that said two things to me; firstly, what an interesting financial business, but also what an exceptional social impact you could have by making education free,” he said.
ALISON diplomas and certificates are not accredited in the traditional sense, but that is something that Mike sees as a positive.
“We want to get away from traditional accrediting because it is too expensive. We want learning to be free and if we were to be traditionally accredited, we would have to be paying some other organisation, whether it’s Harvard, Cambridge or NUI, to use their brand – but we don’t need their brand, we are smart people and we stand by the quality of our courses,” said Mike.
Mike believed that ALISON provides an edge in interviews because it shows potential employees to be proactive in updating their skills. It also gives employers a unique opportunity to test those who say they have completed a course.
“If someone says they can use EXCEL to a certain level, you don’t have to take their word for it; you can just say sit down there and take this test,” he said.
As well as this, following the completion of a course, there is a bank of questions that you will have to answer in order to achieve certification.
Mike argued that the completion of ALISON courses differentiates graduates who have achieved first honours at college as grade inflation is now damaging the reputation of traditional college courses.
“The point is that grade inflation is an issue; if someone comes in with an Alison diploma, the employer can then test them immediately on it,” he said.
ALISON has 160,000 users in Ireland, which Mike pointed out is a big chunk of the population, despite little fanfare at home for this internationally renowned Irish business that is about to hit seven million users worldwide.
“One thing that is interesting about us is that we are the largest single learning platform in Africa and we have one and a half million people online across Africa – which is interesting for a west of Ireland company.
“I guess I like the idea to just encourage people that you can create a business in Galway, in the west of Ireland, and you can have markets very far away from home and you can make a success of it,” said Mike.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
