Keeping it in the country – Cengage Distance Education

Added: (Thu Mar 04 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Moving away for education and career development is an all too frequent trend in a regional centre like Orange.



Amanda Chamberlain and Stephen Scott Robinson are two local residents who have decided to run counter to this trend.



Recently they both completed distance education courses in Orange and are busy working towards furthering their very different careers in the district.



Amanda, who graduated from high school in Orange in 2002, has just completed a Certificate in Professional Children’s Writing and she found that the distance education option allowed her the flexibility to study while also being a full time mum.



“The structure of the course gave me the confidence to realise I could write to follow my dream of one day becoming a writer of children’s books. With much of my time absorbed in looking after my young daughter, I couldn’t have taken this step otherwise,” says Amanda Chamberlain.



Stephen Scott Robinson, has taken a very different route to his recent completion of a Certificate in Photography, having left school some 19 years ago and living in many different locations, working mainly in hospitality.



“I returned to Orange a year ago with my wife and children and decided to try and convert a lifelong interest in photography into a business. I have just completed a Certificate of Photography by correspondence and I am in the process of establishing my own business.”



Both of these residents of Orange have real confidence in the future of the district and want to enjoy that future using their newly acquired vocational skills.



“In this era of economic uncertainty, the importance of education and training is becoming evermore apparent, as people of all ages and levels of education face the prospect of finding new employment and seeking new career paths,” says Dirk Drieberg, Head of Academic for Cengage Education.



“Our organisation, which has provided the training for Amanda and Stephen, has played a unique role over most of the past century providing government-accredited vocational education to hundreds of thousands of Australians, particularly in rural areas through its distance education courses.”



Stephen and Amanda, who both chose to complete their courses by correspondence, could also have opted for the fully online alternative, with the same reassuring access to a personal tutor and mentor.



Amanda Chamberlain is available for comment on 0449 220 708.

Stephen Scott Robinson is available for comment on 0400 975 981.



For further information or comment from Cengage Education, please call Glen Pleffer on (02) 9433 3605.