The Commonwealth of Learning

Closing summary/keynote: Dato’ Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan President and Chief Executive Officer The Commonwealth of Learning

CLOSING SUMMARY

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato’ Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Aziz bin Begawan Pehin Udana Khatib Dato’ Seri Paduka Haji Awang Uman, Menteri, Pendidikan Negara Brunei Darussalam;

Dr. H. Ian Macdonald, Chair, COL Board of Governors;

Pehin Orang Kaya Putera Maharaja Dato’ Haji Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Naib Cansellor, UBD;

Permanent Secretaries, Ministries of Education;

Honourable Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of COL Board, Excellencies, Vice Chancellors, Delegates, Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have come to the end of what has been an interesting and useful discussion on open learning in the Commonwealth. The Forum served to focus attention on the valuable experience, skills, knowledge, talent and imagination that institutions and individuals in the Commonwealth possess to take learning and training beyond classrooms, to where a vast majority of our people live, earn and wish to or can only learn.

On the one hand, the Commonwealth of 54 nations is rich in the requisites to deliver education to the remotest corners of its member states; on the other, it is also home to the world’s largest source of illiteracy, under-education and under-provision for learning. Fewer than one in ten persons in the Commonwealth have the basic tools to function in the knowledge economy of today. If the Commonwealth, as a whole or as individual nations, wishes to catch up with the developed economies of the OECD, then there is no choice but to apply the valuable lessons of distance and open learning. This may be the only solution to reduce this awful education and training deprivation of our peoples and the gap between them and the rest of the world.

In these closing remarks, I would not want to summarise the discussions of the past four days. That is for you to do as you return home reflecting on your participation in Brunei. You will no doubt be reading the papers at your leisure, discovering strategies and models others have successfully used to apply to your own situation.

I would, however, like to talk a little about one aspect of this conference, which for me was the basis for us to organise this Forum in the first place. This aspect has been mentioned in one manner or other by most if not all speakers and commentators. This also came out quite clearly during the four virtual conferences we hosted prior to this face-to-face gathering. I am echoing your sentiments for greater links, co-operation, collaboration, consultation and communication between and among institutions and governments on matters relating to education generally but more importantly matters relating to the practice and extent of distance and open learning. There are many reasons for pursuing these sentiments but let me illustrate some reasons by using three examples:

• Teacher training as an example of a common need and an opportunity to collaborate. At a rough guess a few million of the teachers in service in the Commonwealth will require retraining of one kind or another if they are to function meaningfully in the technology-rich environment of tomorrow’s classrooms. The tools needed for the retraining are not going to be different from one location to another. Could we not collaborate in developing these tools?
• ICT’s are fast emerging vehicles for delivering education and training across national boundaries. There is a need to establish learner-sensitive and -centred common standards for good practice; good practice in education cannot be legislated even in a market-driven era such as ours. But, could we not through consultation develop and subscribe to norms that value education as a different kind of service or good and which needs to be treated with respect in the context of national cultures, traditions and practices?
• Student mobility: As market-driven distance education courses begin to proliferate in their various forms including the many digital classrooms that are sprouting all over North America and Western Europe, students seeking to exchange their credits for a qualification are going to need a service that will enable them to do such conversions. The nations of the Commonwealth with their large populations are potential targets for such business and their people can be beneficiaries of a credit bank or some similar arrangement that will facilitate such conversions. By co-operating with each other, Commonwealth institutions can develop an academic credit bank to help them to be internationally competitive and to help students maximise the benefits of their learning experiences.

Ten years ago when The Commonwealth of Learning was created, architects of the proposal advised member governments to be cautious in their vision for this agency. The advice perhaps was right at that time. However, during the decade of the agency’s life the environment has changed very drastically. Multi-media, reduced communication costs, the Internet and the World Wide Web are all making it possible for courses and training to travel across national jurisdictions fast and without difficulty. At a recent count, some 17,000 individual courses were found on the Web. This can only grow. Under these circumstances, we need to ask whether or not the conservative vision that was prescribed for COL a decade ago is still applicable. While the nations of the Commonwealth may not be spending 17 or 18 billion dollars on post-experience training as their North American counterparts, nevertheless, there is still a lot of training to do in areas such as management, public administration, governance, environment, international trade, food and water security and a host of other areas in the Commonwealth. It would be naive and sad if Commonwealth governments did not wake up to the opportunities that are available, and make use of The Commonwealth of Learning and its network of knowledgeable and experienced distance and open learning facilities (to work for them). There are some who will ask – should international development agencies like COL engage themselves in the act of delivering courses. Just consider one example: The World Bank Learning Network (WBLN), which was put together in 1997. This network uses the facilities of the offices of the World Bank throughout the world as learning centres through which courses considered of benefit to the Bank’s operation are designed in Washington and piped through (synchronous) video and audio conferencing channels, as well as (asynchronously) through facsimile, Internet and Web conduits. Still in its infancy, the Bank is expected to rapidly build this capacity in the next few years.

The World Bank is not the first organisation to enter this field. Business and industrial houses are most active in this area both for their needs as well as to profit from their investments. Since most of the money for these efforts is coming from a handful of developed countries, most of the training will go towards servicing their immediate needs. This is not a solution to reducing the gap that is already existing between those who have and those who do not. It is a recipe to perpetuate the current inequalities well beyond the end of this decade and into the next millennium unless those of us with the knowledge, know-how and concern are prepared to do something about it.

We can only do something if all of us gathered here, along with our institutions, are prepared to pool our resources and get our governments to back our efforts. Ladies and gentlemen, if I have an aspiration it would be to position COL as a training agent for the Commonwealth; one that will use the strength of our collective experience and the power of technology to deliver the training that the Commonwealth needs. But COL cannot do this by itself. It needs to work with many of you and it needs a Board that identifies itself with this vision and it needs Commonwealth governments to support it.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, this has been an interesting week for us. The challenges of organising this conference were many but the team that has been working on it has been a committed one. I would like to think that we succeeded here in Brunei, under the guidance of YDM Pehin Dato’ Abu Bakar Apong and the gentle leadership of Awang Janin, Registrar of the University. Logistical arrangements were impeccably planned and executed. In Vancouver, my colleague, Angela Kwan co-ordinated the efforts of other colleagues as well as worked hard to keep the momentum moving. Operating out of Perth, Tokyo and Beijing, my friend, Colin Latchem took care of programme arrangements. Around the Commonwealth, the many distance education associations supported us in a hundred different ways. To all of you, I say thank you on behalf of the Forum and on behalf of the Brunei Ministry of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam and The Commonwealth of Learning. At the personal level, I also wish to express our thanks to all keynote, plenary and parallel session speakers and presenters, chairpersons and rapporteurs of the various sessions. I am also personally indebted to the Honourable Minister of Education, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Wijaya Dato’ Hj. Abdul Aziz Umar, the staff of the Brunei Ministry of Education and the Vice Chancellor, YDM Pehin Abu Bakar Apong, and staff of Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Last, but not least, COL’s Board and its Chairman, Dr. H. Ian Macdonald, who is always so generous, willing and enthusiastic about COL and its work, deserve mention.

Lastly, to all of you, the delegates who are an important part of the family of the Commonwealth of nations and who made this Forum work, I thank you.

It is part and parcel of the custom of South East Asia to seek forgiveness for any errors and offences we may have caused by any act of foolishness or omission on our part during the week. In keeping with that tradition, I seek your forgiveness if we have caused any such offence. It was not for want of trying or out of malice.

Finally, all those travelling out of Brunei, travel well and travel safe, and friends who are staying behind, keep safe and be in peace.

I thank you all for being with us during this event.

Dato’ Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Commonwealth of Learning

BRUNEI, 5 March 1999

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