Events

The Chair of COL's Board of Governors, Dr. Lewis Perinbam, O.C., spoke on 15 April at the Ismaili Centre in London as part of the Centre's annual Lecture Series. In his address, entitled "Bridges to Global Security - the Promise of Education", he noted that, "the long chroni cle of humankind's accomplishments reveals the constant presence of a single motivating feature. It is the ability of the species to acquire, to utilise, and to enhance knowledge. The word best employed to describe how that process is passed from generation to generation is education. It changes form and assumes differing guises from the primary grades through to tertiary levels in universities. It is at times theory-based; at others of immediate practical application. Education is the irreplaceable key to understanding our world and ourselves; to anticipate the future and to husband our natural environment for the benefit of all human beings. It is both the expression, and the adhesive, of the commonality of humankind."

He pointed out that, "COL has been a pioneer and a leader in this respect. It has recognised the value and the potential of open and distance learning to bring education within the reach of all, to improve its quality and to contain the costs of doing so. Since its inception in 1987 COL has proven effective in helping to lift the burden of poverty from countless citizens in Commonwealth nations by using new technologies and techniques to overcome illiteracy, improve educational standards and train hundreds of thousands of new teachers."

He added that, "no one should underestimate the immense range of rich benefits, including economic, that result from increased education. In India it is estimated that a one-year increase in the average number of years of primary schooling of the workforce would raise outputs by some 23%. In Bangladesh the average salary of secondary-school educated women is about seven times that of women with no primary education. More than a quarter of a century ago, the Economic Council of Canada calculated that the single highest return of any investment - over the longer term - was to be found in the field of education. Today, in the dawn of the 21st Century, when the critical ingredient in humankind's quest for security is an understanding of our commonality as a species, education is the necessary tool to meet that end. Simply put, education today is the most effective of all bridges to global security." www.col.org/speeches

While in New Zealand for COL's Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, President and CEO, Sir John Daniel, visited Massey University, accepting an invitation to speak to its staff. Massey University is a nationally funded "dual-mode" institution with a 70-year history and three campuses on the North Island. It has 37,000 New Zealand and international students, nearly half of them studying through distance education.

The following is reprinted with permission from Massey News, Massey University, New Zealand: Education is the key to development, and technology will provide the means for education to be provided in the world's many developing nations, according to an international distance education specialist.

Sir John Daniel is president of the Commonwealth of Learning, an international organisation that facilitates education in developing countries. As a provider of distance education, Massey has been involved with the Commonwealth of Learning for many years. Sir John last visited Massey 20 years ago as president of the International Council for Distance Education. He spoke to staff in Palmerston North recently on the role technology will play in helping developing nations.

He outlined what development means. "The measure of development is the degree to which the freedom of people is enhanced - freedom from hunger and freedom from abject poverty. It also means freedom of expression and religion. It means political freedom."

He said freedom is not only the measure but also the means of development, because it is free people who develop communities, societies and nations. "Development enhances the freedom of people and free people enhance development."

He said education is the most effective mechanism for development. However, it is not a one-dimensional solution. "Education itself is not enough. You only have to think of countries that have or once had very good and comprehensive education systems that do not or did not translate into obvious prosperity.

"Sound education policies, political stability and social cohesion are all important for development and the abolition of poverty."

But, he said, no country is likely to get beyond the threshold of development unless it ensures that most of its people receive a good basic education - a conclusion that is inconvenient for some governments because it requires hard slog and national commitment.

However, education is not just about teaching a curriculum and testing whether the kids have learned it, he said. The physical and psychological state of pupils, the competence of teachers and the environment of the school are all crucial factors. "We want child-friendly schools that seek out children to give them the education that is their right, schools that are centred on children, and that link to the families and communities around them."

Sir John noted the "insidious link" that exists between quality and exclusivity in education. He said, however, that recently it has been demonstrated that quality and exclusivity need not be linked. The OECD Pisa programme measures the reading, scientific and mathematical literacy of 15-year-old children. The Pisa programme has found that the countries with the highest average performance, such as Canada and Finland, are also countries with a narrow gap between the top and the bottom performers. Also, the countries with the highest degree of equity, such as Korea and Japan, also show high performance, he said. On the other side of the chart New Zealand has a high average performance but below average equity, similar to the United States and France.

Sir John says access and high quality education are usually linked with high costs but the intelligent use of technology allows us to increase access, raise quality and degrease costs. "This is why I call technology the missing link between education and development."

He cited the success of open universities, which have flourished in Asia and which are now being adopted in other nations such as India, which has 1.4 million in its Open School.

www.col.org/speeches

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and its COL-supported Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDAL) held an international stakeholders meeting in May 2004. Hosted by NOUN in Lagos and facilitated by COL, the aim of the meeting was to develop an action plan for training, advocacy, publicity and research for the new regional centre for West Africa - RETRIDAL. The two-day event drew participants from Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Science and technology teacher educators from Commonwealth countries in Sub-Saharan Africa visited the University of Melbourne, Australia, on their way to Dunedin, New Zealand, for COL's Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, to attend an "e-learning" workshop organised by the University's Department of Teaching, Learning and Research Support (TeLaRS) and sponsored by COL.

COL Chairman, Dr. Lewis Perinbam, O.C., visited India in March to chair the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Executive MBA/MPA Programme, which includes the Vice-Chancellors of South Asia's four national open universities.

Over 600 students have participated in the programme to date and have expressed their enthusiastic support for it. Four African countries have indicated their interest in extending the programme to their countries. Mauritius and Nigeria have confirmed that they will launch the programme by 2005 and the African Virtual University is interested in offering it to its partners in Commonwealth countries in that region. www.col.org/cemba

During his visit, Dr. Perinbam met with the President of India, the Honourable Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. President Kalam showed keen interest in COL and particularly in its efforts to harness open and distance learning for development purposes in the Commonwealth. He also met with senior government/institutional officials and expressed COL's gratitude for India's generous financial support as COL's third highest donor.

He spoke to the vast constituency of India's Indira Gandhi National Open University in a televised address to its 48 regional and 1133 local centres. IGNOU's Vice-Chancellor, Professor H.P. Dikshit, hosted a dinner in his honour.

In May, in London, Dr. Perinbam addressed the Commonwealth's Board of Governors and reported on COL. He also represented COL at a meeting of the Coolum Committee, which brings together the Commonwealth Secretariat and other Commonwealth agencies for periodic consultations on the progress toward the objectives for the Commonwealth's support structure that are contained in the Coolum Declaration that was agreed to by Heads of Government at their 2002 meeting.

In August, Dr. Perinbam addressed the Managing Change Conference, an annual strategic development programme for leaders of Commonwealth Universities in Africa organised by the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, and co-hosted by COL, the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Association of African Universities.

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