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Halifax, Canada
26-30 November 2000
In preparation for the 14th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, The Commonwealth of Learning is pleased to present Ministers with two documents (attached).
In the first document, Expanding Learning Horizons: COL's Summary Report 1998 - 2000, COL is delighted to be able to report on several recent programme accomplishments from its Three-year Plan 1997 - 2000, in the areas of staff development, training, policy formulation, collaborative materials development, technology applications, knowledge sharing and research.
The second document, COL's Three-year Plan 2000 - 2003, is based on the ideas that COL presented to Commonwealth Heads of Government, at their biennial summit (CHOGM, Durban, November 1999), on how it can best serve the Commonwealth in the future. It reviewed the basis for a new and modestly ambitious plan for the next three years (2000 - 2003) which shifts the agency's focus somewhat and in so doing positions it to exploit the assets of the knowledge era to add value to the Commonwealth's aspirations to develop its human capital. Funding requirements were also outlined. This vision was endorsed by CHOGM's Committee of the Whole, which noted that COL is an "ideal instrument" to meet their needs.
Encouraged by the directions given and decisions taken at last year's CHOGM, COL has been able to develop and refine the plan further. The Three-year Plan 2000 - 2003 that is now presented to Ministers of Education has benefited from wide consultation throughout the Commonwealth over a period of 18 months. Government ministries, non-government organisations, educational institutions and individuals have all contributed.
The Plan's strategic focus is on four core roles for COL:
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as a catalyst for collaborative action
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as a resource for training
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as a capacity builder
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as an information and knowledge provider
In keeping with what Heads of Government endorsed during their meeting in Durban last year, COL is seeking from Ministers their approval of the Plan as well as the collective commitment from member Governments of CDN$9 million per year for the next three years to support it. As with the previous Three-year Plan, a three-tiered funding structure is presented.
COL's Board of Governors urges Commonwealth Education Ministers to:
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note the report on the successful completion of most of the projects, achieving almost all of the goals, set out in COL's Three-year Plan 1997 - 2000;
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note COL's progress in developing its Three-year Plan 2000-2003; and
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support COL's Three-year Plan 2000 - 2003, including making triennial pledges to COL totalling CDN$9 million annually in support of the Plan.
Board of Governors
The Commonwealth of Learning
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