OTEN Graduation 2008 - Ron's Congratulations

Hello. In any TAFE College, student graduation events are always a highlight of the year.
They are important and rewarding because they provide the opportunity for family, friends and staff to publicly acknowledge the dedication and sheer hard work that students have put in to successfully complete their qualification. By choosing to study through the TAFE NSW Open Training and Education Network, or OTEN as we know it, you have been part of a 35,000 strong cohort, studying by Distance Education.

Many of you would have chosen the distance education pathway because you live in rural or remote areas of Australia. Others would have chosen distance education because you work shiftwork or variable work hours, or you work in jobs that make getting to a TAFE College at a fixed time each week simply not possible.

However, our research shows that increasingly many of you chose OTEN because you want the flexibility to organise your study at your place, at your own pace and at a time that is convenient to you.

Although distance education might be the ultimate flexible study option, Im sure that you will agree with me that it is never the easy option. It takes great self discipline, motivation and well developed organisational skills to study remotely by distance. It is in this context I say to you that in many ways the fact that you have completed a qualification through OTEN by distance education has given you something more important than the qualification itself.

You have proven you have the skills and commitment to be a self-directed learner. In a fast changing world, where it is recognised that lifelong learning is critical, the ability to be a self-directed learner is not only a great skill to have, it gives you personal competitive advantage over most of the population.

On behalf of the many hard working staff at OTEN, I would like to offer our personal congratulations to each of you on your fantastic achievements. I hope you enjoy the celebration of your achievements, no matter where you are, and be assured that we are very proud of your achievements and celebrate with you.

Thank you.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• OTEN
• graduation
• 2008