But more and more adults and working people are still returning to education. The reason . . . colleges, institutes and universities are finally recognising the value of continuing education, and are putting measures in place to make studying more accessible to everybody.

At the vanguard of this accessibility is distance learning, the cause for which has been considerably abetted by technology. Night classes may have opened education up to people with full-time jobs, but it was the internet that allowed people to study not only at their own pace, but from a location of their choosing.

That is not, of course, to say that distance learning can happen entirely at the pace chosen by the student. Programmes are usually modularised, giving the student the opportunity to progress at their own pace . . . but they will probably have to complete the individual modules within a defined time frame.

Still, even bearing this in mind, there is considerable leeway for students who have the luxury of studying from home. Some students will founder on the necessity of being actually present in a lecture theatre or tutorial . . .

even if there is no reason for them not to be there. But distance learning allows them to approach their studies in their own time . . . that could be in the middle of the night or the middle of the day, whenever is appropriate (assuming that there is not a prescribed time when an online forum has to take place . . .

then the same pressure of being present apply, albeit people can be "present" from the comfort of their own homes).

It could be argued that the digital divide still precludes sections of society from further education, because lack of access to a computer will negatively affect a person's ability to undertake a distance learning qualification.

But it is inarguable that elearning does open education to more people than it closes it off to, and access to computers is increasing through libraries and other community resources.

Studying from home also has the advantage of removing the student from a college environment. Many people, especially young people, will thrive on the college buzz, but working people and more mature students could feel alienated by the atmosphere that pervades the corridors of colleges. So distance learning could be the answer from a psychological perspective as much as it is from a practical point of view.