CDU Katherine Town Centre opens to the community

Vocational education and training (VET) and higher education course offerings in remote Northern Territory are on show as Charles Darwin University (CDU) opens its Katherine Town Centre to the public this week on June 9.

The Open Day in Katherine features CDU courses in areas including business and retail, information communication and technology, health, childcare, cake decorating and Asian cookery, tourism and hospitality, and sport and recreation.

Students and the community will get a hands-on experience of the latest technology in education and training, such as a drone display and simulation and an interactive model farm.

The interactive model farm is a type of modern agricultural technology which uses automated sensors that report to the cloud, and the data can be viewed by a computer screen and on mobile phones.

Upcoming VET qualifications in drones, including a Certificate III in Aviation (Remote Pilot) and STEM outreach activities and research conducted by drone experts, are highlights of the day.

This is the first time that CDU is hosting an open day at the Katherine Town Centre and other regional locations, bringing more promotions to remote Territorians.

CDU Associate Vice-Chancellor for Katherine and Big Rivers Region Alison Haines said the open day would allow the Katherine community to experience first-hand the education opportunities available to them.

“Our Katherine Town Centre and Rural Campus offer a wide variety of courses focusing on hospitality and tourism, health, cookery, retail and sports,” Ms Haines said.

“The Open Day is an opportunity for potential students and their families to come along and experience the highlights of the courses and get their questions answered.”

“Having Open Days at our regional locations opens up our campuses to the wider community and builds closer connections with them, which encourages more remote Territorians to consider study options locally.”

CDU’s STEM Outreach team will also organise some STEM activities for students, including morse code bracelets, battle-bots, turtle display and creating your own video games with Pixicade.

A roll-a-swag competition will also be held with the tourism and hospitality team.

The Student Central, Foundation Skills and First Nations Leadership teams will answer questions from prospective students on that day.

A free barbeque will be available to the public while they enjoy browsing the variety of courses and services on offer.

CDU Katherine Town Centre Open Day will be held from 10am to 2pm on Thursday, June 9.  The Katherine Rural Campus Open Day will be from 9am to 1pm on August 20.

CDU Open Days are held across its campuses in Darwin, Alice Springs, Palmerston and Sydney.  For more information, visit www.cdu.edu.au/openday