On Wednesday 5 April 2006, a milestone in Australian educational history was reached with the announcement of Sport Knowledge Australia’s (SKA) partnership with Asia Pacific based Thomson Learning Australia, a division of global information giant, the Thomson Corporation.

SYDNEY - The partnership will see SKA deliver sport curricula into Asia Pacific through Thomson Education – a business unit of Thomson Learning, a division of Thomson Corporation, which reported $US 8.7 billion in revenue last year.

SKA’s product range will focus initially on professional education courses in sport management, facilities management and event management. Course will be available mid 2007.

Dr Alan Bowen-James, General Manager of Thomson Education, a division of Thomson Learning Australia, says that sport fits comfortably into Thomson Learning’s education philosophy, “Thomson is very much about providing highly-accessible ‘knowledge services’ that foster academic excellence and professional development.

“Thomson Education is market-driven and the need for sport education, at all levels, is growing quickly around the world.”

SKA’s partnership with Thomson Learning Australia aims to provide highly relevant recognised ourse outcomes across the educational spectrum. The partnership will service an industry that is estimated to be responsible for two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of major western economies.

“Through the ongoing development of innovative learning programs and partnerships with industry peak bodies such as the National Institute of Accountants, and now SKA, Thomson Learning students will achieve highly relevant and recognised course outcomes across the educational spectrum.”

Leighton Wood, CEO of SKA, said that in Asia there are some 17 million people enrolled in training and higher education courses and that his organisation would initially target Asia Pacific.

He highlighted China as an example of a country where the sport industry is rapidly expanding saying, “To get a measure of growth potential you only have to look at China where sport is currently only 0.03 percent of GDP. Just two years out from the Beijing Olympics, sport is regarded as a sunrise industry in China, which in time will come to rate among the top 10 industries in the country.

“By 2010, Guangdong province aims to make sport responsible for one percent of its GDP.

“One of the great things about our partnership with Thomson Learning Australia is the reach we will achieve by working with a world leader in distance learning. The significant profile of Thomson Learning worldwide last year gives an indicator of the scale and scope of distance education and the potential of our partnership.

“SKA’s job will be to deliver premium-quality, leading-edge products to a potentially massive market place to service countries where the infrastructure cannot meet demand. In China, only three percent of 18 to 22-year-olds have access to education. Like many other countries where cost is a major factor holding back access to education, distance learning offers an economical alternative to traditional face-to-face methods.

“A core objective of our partnership is to provide dynamic and responsive products that meet the customer’s and fast-paced market-place demands. In the future these products will dovetail with face-to-face components to be delivered by high profile partner institutions around the world, providing an unmatched level of access and service to sport education.”

ABOUT THOMSON: The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2005 revenues of $8.70 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information, software tools and applications to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate e-learning and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. With operational headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Thomson has approximately 40,000 employees and provides services in approximately 130 countries. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).