Michael O'Donnell Memorial Fund Helps DIT Student Maths Tutors Make a Difference

Congratulations to all the students from DIT and the four local secondary schools which took part in the second Voluntary Mathematics Tuition Programme. The students involved were presented with Certificates of Participation by Mr. Tom Dunne, Head of the School of Real Estate and Construction Economics, on 2 May 2012 in DIT Bolton Street.

Since last October 55 DIT engineering undergraduates have volunteered their time to provide free maths tutoring to 55 junior and Leaving Certificate pupils. The four local secondary schools involved were Mount Carmel Girls School on Kings Inn Street; O’Connell’s Boys School, North Richmond Street; St. Paul’s CBS, North Brunswick Street; and St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Stanhope Street.

The Voluntary Mathematics Tuition Programme is co-ordinated by Colm Carey, a PhD student at DIT who is also a Michael O’Donnell Scholar. Colm was delighted with the wide-ranging support he received for the programme from the teachers at the schools involved, the DIT staff at Bolton Street and local community groups.

Also attending the presentation was Angela Crimmins, a community youth worker with O’Connell’s Boys School. Angela said that ‘the maths tuition programme with DIT has helped the pupils to achieve great results in their mock-Leaving Certificate exams. The pupils look forward to coming into the college each week for their tuition with the DIT students and many of them now want to go on to third level education. This is a big step forward for many of these pupils who now have a chance to realise their full potential’.

The Voluntary Mathematics Tuition Programme is funded by the Michael O’Donnell Memorial Fund which supports engineering teaching and research activities in DIT. The fund was established with a legacy from the estate of the late Michael O’Donnell, former principal of Bolton Street College of Technology and the first acting President of DIT. The Fund is managed by DIT Foundation, a registered charity that promotes and supports the development of DIT.