Comlearn November 1995

COL Board Meets to Chart Directions

COMLEARN, November 1995 - Vol. 6, No. 2

Highlights

COL Board meets to chart directions

Since its inception in 1987 The Commonwealth of Learning has not only attracted the attention of all those interested in education in the Commonwealth but also those outside of it. It was a bold and imaginative initiative which recognised the huge potential of distance education to shift the educational equation in favour of many who had thus far been unable to access it - those who have been marginalised for reasons such as gender, poverty, geography, or other circumstance. COL was an idea whose time had come.

The organisation, which began its operations in 1989, has provided a wide range of services to many Commonwealth countries especially those that are less well endowed, small and in great need of increasing educational access to their people.

These services have made a significant impact in the orientation and thinking of policy-makers in the area of educational provision. Through demonstrations, advice, training and the exchange of materials and information, COL has been able to sensitise educational planners to the advantageous ways in which both tested and emerging communication technologies can be applied to enhance learning opportunities.

Chaired by Dr. H. Ian Macdonald, COL's Board of Governors met for three days from September 10 - 12 both to examine the performance of the organisation for the past six years and to plan for the next three. It was also a timely meeting in view of the arrival of the new President and CEO, Dr. Raj Dhanarajan, who took office just five days before the Board was convened.

Accomplishments to date

In its first six years of operation, COL has delivered close to 300 programmes in the field, in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific using modern technologies to enable governments and institutions to:

increase access to education, while retaining quality of provision.
COL has become a focal point for the marshalling of countries' educational resources to advance the cause of human resource development at the international level. Some of the achievements COL has accomplished on a Commonwealth-wide basis include:
launching of the Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme, which will provide more than 100 students from 18 Commonwealth countries with graduate-level training in Distance Education;
development and distribution of the Water Safe/Food Safe materials designed for training in hygienic standards for food preparation and storage and adapted by COL for use internationally;
research into issues affecting access and equity, e.g. Barriers Faced by Women in Distance Education ;
development of course materials in legislative drafting, in co-operation with the Commonwealth Secretariat, as part of a Commonwealth-wide training programme; and
establishment of professional associations for distance education, covering the small-island states of the Pacific as well as associations for western and southern Africa.

In reviewing the past, the Board took great pleasure in noting that the organisation has already become widely recognised as the major Commonwealth source of professional expertise and innovation in the educational sector, which has provided invaluable support to Commonwealth countries and institutions in the adoption of distance education and open learning:

design and implementation, with associated training, of a digital editing facility to support the production of educational programming in the Maldives;
materials and technical support for establishing a computer training centre in Zambia;
provision of materials, information technology and training in support of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States' distance education programme;
design and installation of educational teleconferencing systems in the Solomon Islands, Guyana, Kenya, India, St. Lucia and Malaysia; and
establishment of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, with offices and staff based at Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi, India.

These programmes highlight the developmental value of distance learning techniques and technologies, generally at lower unit costs for Commonwealth citizens, and they contribute to:

higher education and formal schooling;
non-formal elements of education and training; and
the goal of "education for all."

Looking ahead

In looking ahead, the Board was mindful that the world's economic climate had worsened between 1989 and 1995, resulting in less resources for COL and yet a greater expectations for it to do more. It also recognised, however, that for COL to continue to be active and effective, it needs to be able to plan on the basis of an assured income of about Cdn.$5 million a year for the next three years.

Members of the Board, who represent a broad cross-section of Commonwealth interests, were clear in their mind that governments must be encouraged to make reasonable levels of contribution to maintain the strength and viability of the organisation. They noted, with special concern, that pledges made by the Commonwealth Education Ministers, when they met in Islamabad almost one year ago, were very slow in materialising and suggestions were made to encourage governments to be more forthcoming in meeting these pledges.

Board members acknowledged that, in a world where countries and people are increasingly linked by telecommunication networks, electronic highways, satellite broadcasting and local learning/viewing centres, opportunities have been emerging for educators to transfer knowledge from one geographical location to another without having to move people. The Commonwealth of Learning not only had a role in opening these pathways for the movement of knowledge among the nations of the Commonwealth, it also had a role in sensitising governments and teaching institutions, in smaller and technologically less endowed communities, to the "common wealth" of opportunities and options that were becoming available.

Capitalising on its wide experience over the past six years, COL is now well poised to initiate the development of Commonwealth-wide teaching and learning networks/centres where "any learner, anywhere in the Commonwealth, shall be able to study any distance-teaching programme available from any bona fide college or university in the Commonwealth" (the long-term aim, as stated in the Briggs Report, proposing The Commonwealth of Learning in 1987). The Board endorsed taking COL in this direction.

If the coming century is to be truly knowledge-based, governments have to find ways to ensure that their people remain competitive in a world economy and responsible citizens in participatory democracies. At the same time they must develop caring communities which are committed to the ideals of human dignity, rights, equality and freedom. COL's role in assisting Commonwealth Governments to achieve these ideals, through high-quality technology-assisted mass and open education, was reiterated by the Board. In pursuance of this fundamental objective, the organisation was encouraged by its Board of Governors to:

help sensitise the Commonwealth to opportunities available by open schooling, especially in the education of women and girls, the disabled, the marginalised, and those living in remote communities;
develop more links with broadcasters, such as COL has done with WETV, to ensure that education gets included in all major global broadcasting initiatives;
continue to build upon current experience with more and better training schemes to enhance the professional skills of those involved in distance and open education - by acting as the facilitator and network co-ordinator in training partnerships;
re-examine the organisation's role in learning materials exchange, acquisition, development, and banking;
explore additional channels for partnership-building with NGO's, other intergovernmental agencies, and, wherever possible, with industry - without in any way compromising COL's position and strength;
undertake further studies on the development of a credit bank or accreditation function for pan-Commonwealth use.

The Board took note that the challenge to do all of the above with a small budget will need imaginative and prudent management coupled with an aggressive and concerted effort to raise resources by non-traditional means. It readily agreed, however, to accept the challenge.

Governors left Vancouver with renewed optimism for the future.

Current members of the COL Board of Governors are:

Chairman

Dr. H. Ian Macdonald

President Emeritus, York University,

Toronto, Canada

Government Nominees

Australia

Prof. C.D. Blake

Vice-Chancellor, Charles Sturt University,

Bathurst, New South Wales

Britain

Ms. Myra Harrison

Chief Education Adviser,

Overseas Development Administration, London

Brunei Darussalam

Dato Paduka Haji Ali Hashim bin Haji Daud

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education,

Bandar Seri Begawan

Canada

The Honourable Iona Campagnolo, P.C.

Chancellor, University of Northern British Columbia,

Prince George, British Columbia

India

Vacant

Jamaica

The Hon. Sir Alister McIntyre

Vice-Chancellor,

The University of the West Indies, Kingston

Nigeria

Dr. M.M. Bunza

Director,

National Teachers' Institute, Kaduna

Tonga

The Hon. Dr. S. Langi Kavaliku

Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Education, Works and Civil Aviation,

Nuku'alofa

Uganda

Prof. Julius N. Odurkene

Head, Distance Education Department,

Institute of Adult and Continuing Education,

Makerere University, Kampala

Other Members

H.E. Chief Emeka Anyaoku

Commonwealth Secretary-General, London

Prof. Walter J. Kamba (Vice Chairman)

Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Namibia

President, International Association of Universities

President, Commonwealth Association on Zimbabwe

and Front-Line States, Harare

Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe

Former Chairman of the Council of the United Nations University

Dr. Lydia Makhubu

Vice-Chancellor, University of Swaziland,

Kwaluseni, Swaziland

Mr. William L. Renwick

Hon. Senior Research Fellow, Stout Research Centre,

Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Mr. Shell Harvey

Asst. Deputy Minister,

Post Secondary Education Division Ministry of Skills,

Training & Labour, Victoria, Canada

Ex-Officio

Dr. Gajaraj (Raj) Dhanarajan,

President , The Commonwealth of Learning,

Vancouver, Canada

COL appeals to Heads of Government

This month, in Auckland, New Zealand, Commonwealth Heads of Government will be asked to reaffirm their dedication to the aims and activities of COL and to renew their financial commitments to the agency.

MANDATE

In establishing the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver, Canada, in 1987, Commonwealth Heads of Government created an international agency with a unique mission and mandate. Their decision not only recognised the growing importance of all forms of learning within the overall process of social and economic development, but also anticipated the revolutionary potential of communications and information technologies for enhancing peoples' access to quality education and training.

FINANCIAL BACKGROUND

The accomplishments of COL in its first few years (see pages 1 and 2: "COL Board meets to chart directions") have been a direct result of the generous financial contributions made to the organisation by over 30 Commonwealth governments.

Brunei's leadership, as COL's main benefactor for this initial period, was quickly followed by other countries, notably Canada, the Province of British Columbia (Canada), India, Britain, Nigeria and Australia. The assurance of an initial tranche of funds amounting to $25 million (Cdn.), which provided for the first five years of COL's operations, helped to lay the foundations for a viable and vibrant agency.

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS

During the past two years, however, the fiscal constraints encountered by the organisation have increasingly inhibited its capacity to respond to the demands of its clients.

This has resulted in:

a narrowing of the scope of its activities and programmes;
an inability to meet priority national and regional needs; and
a reduced capacity to plan and invest in major Commonwealth initiatives, such as open schooling, especially for the benefit of women and girls; regional learning networks; materials exchange; student support services; and accreditation systems.

FUNDING APPEAL

There continues to be a substantial and increasing demand for COL's services across a wide spectrum of the educational community throughout the Commonwealth, but, despite expressed support for COL at the 1993 CHOGM and again at the 1994 meeting of Commonwealth Education Ministers, and expressed intentions to make financial contributions, governments seem not to have made adequate financial provision for a continuation of COL's work into the immediate future.

In the assessment of COL's Board of Governors, immediate steps to attain a threshold level of annual financial support in the range of $5 million (Cdn.) are essential. The Board is asking Commonwealth Heads of Government to reaffirm their dedication to the aims and activities of COL by providing this financial commitment.

IN MEMORIAM

The sudden death of Professor G. Ram Reddy, on July 2 in London, leaves the distance education community poorer and the vast circle of friends cut off forever from a wise and generous soul. COL in particular has lost a patron and friend who served it in various capacities. He died a few days after receiving the meritorious Award of Excellence, co-sponsored by The Commonwealth of Learning and the International Council for Distance Education, in Birmingham. He was 65.

Born in a small village in the former Nizam's Dominion, where educational opportunities were fewer than those available in other parts of colonial India, he was one of the very few from his district to attend high school and college. Obtaining his MA from the Osmania University, Ram Reddy did further graduate studies at the London School of Economics before joining Osmania as a lecturer in public administration in 1959. His reputation as a teacher and researcher ensured quick promotion to full professorship within a decade.

When the newly established Social Sciences Research Council created regional centres, Professor Reddy was chosen to head the first regional unit located in Hyderabad. In 1977, at the age of 48, he became the Vice-Chancellor of his alma mater, the Osmania University.

While he distinguished himself as a scholar in public policy studies, it was in the field of higher education administration that he reached commanding heights as is attested by his adorning the Chairmanship of India's University Grants Commission and Chairman of the Social Science Research Council. As UGC Chair, he piloted the establishment of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council to promote quality assurance in higher education in India. This is the first of its kind in the South Asian region.

It was during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor of Osmania that his association with distance education began. It would be no exaggeration to say that he is the father of open learning in India. Almost single handedly, he founded India's first open university, the Andhra Pradesh Open University (now called Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University) in 1982. This led to the Central Government asking him to prepare the groundwork for the establishment of the Indira Gandhi National Open University of which too he became the founding Vice-Chancellor in 1985.

As India's most prominent open learning expert, he was invited to be associated with every stage of the establishment of The Commonwealth of Learning. He was a member of both the Briggs and Daniel committees and, later, India's representative on COL's founding Board of Governors. Such was his attachment to COL that he agreed to join as its first Vice-President in 1989 and helped to lay the firm foundations of the management of the organisation.

Professor Reddy's role on the global distance education scene was equally significant. He was elected as the first Secretary General of the Association of Asian Open Universities and was an active member of the International Council for Distance Education. It was thus most appropriate that he should be one of the first recipients of the COL-ICDE Award of Excellence for meritorious services to distance education at ICDE's conference in Birmingham this year. He was also honoured by being made Life Member of ICDE. It is a tragic but fitting irony to this career that he died within days of receiving these honours.

His services to COL have been legion. Perhaps no other person served COL in as many capacities as he did. He was present at its creation and nurtured it as its first Vice-President. Equally significant had been his role as the Indian representative on the Board where he played a great role as liaison between the organisation and the government of India and academic and professional bodies in the country.

Enviable as these achievements were, even more enviable were his personal traits. To say he had the knack of making friends does not do justice to the authenticity of his affections towards others and the spontaneity of his generosity. While his modesty was transparent, behind it lurked a firm determination to pursue goals. He couched idealism in the rhetoric of incrementalism which made his decisions and recommendations palatable to governments and bureaucracies. In fact, the way he brought about the ideal of greater access to education through wide acceptance of distance learning is a good example of idealism wrapped around pragmatic pleadings.

All in all, he was a wonderful human being the likes of whom are rare in any age and more so in our times.

Prof. R.V.R. Chandrasekhara Rao

Distance Education: Helping Overcome Barriers to Women's Technological Education

By Karen Evans

1. Introduction

The significance attached to the increased participation of women in technology and technological education reflects two world-wide trends: first, the permeation of technology in the contemporary world and, second, the recognition that the international community must act to secure the advancement of women and eliminate gender-based discrimination, particularly in the fields of education and employment.

The world over, women choose to enrol in greater proportions in arts, human studies and social sciences than they do in mathematics, science and technology. The cause for this is largely systemic: created in the social structures of institutions and the labour market and internalised in the values of many cultures. These factors are manifested in a host of barriers to women's participation in the technological domain.

Distance education can play an important role in facilitating women's participation in technology and technological education and it provides great potential for overcoming the limitations that exist.

2. Barriers to Participation

There are several kinds of barriers to women participating in technological education: cultural, attitudinal, qualificatory, situational, and institutional.

(a) Cultural: A clear pattern emerges across countries showing the relationship between women's participation in technological education and the relative status of women in different cultural traditions. In societies in which women are more subservient, there are "almost insuperable obstacles to women's participation in education" (Evans and King 1991).

(b) Attitudinal: Perceived differences in male and female roles and capabilities, which are also the result of socialisation. Women must be enormously motivated and have great self-confidence to break through this barrier.

(c) Qualificatory: The lack of maths and science pre-requisites for entry to programmes can be considered a barrier (although evidence suggests that this is also perceived rather than real in some countries).

(d) Situational: The barriers faced generally by women in attending courses apply: family commitments, lack of partner support, financial restrictions and living in rural/isolated areas.

(e) Institutional: Institutional barriers that apply to women are well documented. They include fixed hours of classes, substantial attendance requirement, lock step approach to curriculum, lack of child care facilities and "unfriendly" course information.

3. Significance of Barriers in Different Regional Contexts

The relative significance of these barriers vary according to:

(a) the level of education and training envisaged;

(b) age of the women (young/mature);

Three brief illustrations from Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia summarise the barriers outlined above, in regional context.

(1) Africa: In Africa, the world-wide problem of low participation in science and technological education is compounded by low enrolment rates of girls in formal education, when compared with boys. The implications of this gap are increasingly serious as women's contribution to agriculture and commerce is constrained by this lack of access. Some barriers include the following:

relegation of women to the home;
parental perceptions of costs/benefits of educating girls, affecting low income families particularly
patriarchy, female seclusion practices and early marriage;
fear of cultural loss on emancipation;
discriminatory labour market practices;
irrelevance of curricula to girls' views and experiences of the world;
nature of occupations in technology, which are not easily combined with child-rearing and child-care;
lack of role models and career counselling.

(2) Caribbean: Within the formal system, girls attend school from an earlier age, for a longer period and achieve higher rates of literacy and numeracy than do boys. At secondary and tertiary levels, the achievements of female students are higher than those of male students.

Even so, obstacles and barriers exist. They are identified as:

social pressures inside and outside the classroom
masculine image given to science and technology in the curriculum
lack of female teachers and, more widely, absence of female role models
teacher-pupil interactions: inappropriate assumptions made by male teachers
perceptions of admissions tutors
lack of appropriate vocational guidance and career counselling

(3) South Asia: Poverty is the most pervasive barrier to the education of South Asian girls and women. Other cultural factors such as early marriage and concern for girls moral and physical welfare present limitations; and in some regions the practices of the segregation and seclusion of women restrict education.

Labour market discrimination aggravates the situation; women are hired less often and in lower postings and often receive lower pay for equal work. The scientific and medical fields are an exception, where women are more highly paid.

4. Programmes to Increase Women's Participation: Some Examples

In developing countries, much can be learned by reviewing the programmes and policies designed to promote women's participation in education generally. The following strategies have been identified as successful in industrial countries:

offering secondary and post-secondary scholarships
offering vocational/technological programmes linked directly with employment, with a strong recruitment and guidance element.

In developing countries in all regions, research has shown that successful strategies include scholarships to address barriers of poverty and financial dependency; female teachers as role models; alternative, flexible provision to accommodate the multiple demands, expectations and constraints placed on many women; direct links into employment to counter barriers of employer resistance and other social pressures on completion of training.

In programmes designed to promote participation in technological education, three categories of direct provision for women can be identified:

Bridging programmes: updating and re-entry for women already qualified in technological subjects

Conversion programmes: first entry to technological education, for mature women, early school leavers and "mainstream" school leavers who wish to change direction.

Community-based, role-related programmes: geared to local and environmental issues directly relevant to the lives and roles of women

(1) Bridging Programmes

Although the Open University in Britain has had a high degree of success in recruiting women students, its open access policy alone was not effective in attracting women into non-traditional subject areas such as technology. Barriers to female participation included "loss of personal/professional esteem" and fees when household budgets were stretched.

The Women into Technology Project began as an updating course designed to help women who had qualified as engineers to bridge career breaks with updating education. The initiative was reported to have been greeted with scepticism initially, on the assumption that few women were in the intended target group and those that were would not be interested. (The programme was extended subsequently to encourage new entrants to technology, providing conversion courses of the kind discussed in the next section).

The courses had to take account of domestic commitments and the wide geographical spread of such a specialised audience, so distance education was seen as the ideal solution. The programme has recruited well, given the restricted target group and has continued to grow. The key factors to its success were apparently bursaries being offered (independent of partner's salary) and the prospects of career development, timed to coincide with children's increasing independence.

(2) Conversion Programmes

Where younger women tend to stay in full-time education beyond the minimum age in greater proportions than men, (e.g. Caribbean, Ellis, 1990) they can potentially build on a stronger general academic base by entering training for higher technical/technologist levels, but significant incentives are needed.

An Australian initiative for rural women involved a community-based distance education programme, characterised by its consultative approach to programme development, strong student support and the use of flexible, self-paced study materials. The objective was to increase the number of women entering science and engineering courses.

The target group was mature age women and school leavers. Barriers emphasised in mounting the programme were lack of self-confidence in the women, time pressures to which they felt subject and the "innate conservatism " of rural people.

Distance education was the obvious answer for the isolated rural communities in question. Features of the programme contributing to its success (as demonstrated by low dropout and programme growth) have been described as follows:

Participants were encouraged to recognise the skills and competencies they had gained as home and farm managers;
Materials on study skills and materials were explicitly designed to raise awareness of issues of the status of women;
Peer support through teleconferencing, informal networking and student volunteers was available;
Open access provided, with no entry hurdles besides that of gender.

By April 1992, there were 306 women in the programme, distributed evenly between age bands, declining after age 44. Results compared favourably with those of mainstream school leavers.

The lessons learned from this programme, as identified by Warner, were -
that the self esteem-raising and study skills components are essential;
self-paced materials can encourage procrastination so goal-setting and time management need to be built in;
there is a need to capitalise on governmental/institutional equity policies for funding and support.

(3) Local, Role-Related Programmes

The Construction and Use of Alternative Technologies project in Guyana involved training for local women in the design, construction and use of appropriate technologies related to saving energy. Through this programme, women were exposed to science and technology in situ, developed relevant skills and were better able to understand the links between science, technology and their everyday lives.

5. The Interface Between Technical and Technological Education

The traditional craft/technician/technologist boundaries are blurring in the technological environments of the advanced economies: tech/voc levels are now being differentiated according to general and specific skills required. At lower levels, moves to develop broad "occupational competence" through flexible leaving programmes may create pressure for further training and qualifications. Projects in which "supported self-study" has played a significant part should be given particular attention.

It has been argued that competency-based individualised and mediated instruction should be used more widely in developing countries' training programmes, as it has many advantages over traditional training.

Some of these advantages, particularly of flexibility and self-pacing, offer means of reducing barriers to women's participation. Other features such as traditional instructional procedures and top-down control are, by contrast, likely to reinforce barriers. More research is needed into the design and implementation of competency-based education for technical and technological education, in a way which addresses gender issues as an integral feature.

6. How Far Can Distance Education Reduce Barriers?

Clearly, distance education can achieve results in facilitating the participation of women, both young and mature in technological education, under the right conditions. The first step in defining the "right conditions" is to establish the relative significance of the barriers identified earlier, and the specific forms they take in the given society and culture. The measures needed to tackle them can then be identified. If any of the barriers is "almost insuperable," then programmes geared directly to facilitate access will not be successful or represent a good investment even if all of the other barriers are effectively tackled. For example, distance education has been shown to effectively reduce the gap between the domesticated role of women and educational/career aspirations, in the examples of bridging and conversion courses given above, by allowing women to combine study and domestic roles in a flexible fashion. But this barrier may be too great to deal with in rural areas. For women in these areas, community-based role-relevant programmes are more likely to be effective (although there is little evidence that they are stimulating entry into higher levels of education and training).

Many of the barriers can be overcome to some degree, however, by involving distance education. Any "failure" is likely to occur when western models are adopted without adaptation to the "acculturised behaviours" of teachers and learners.

7. Wider Strategies for Reducing the Gender Gap

Evidence suggests that, in developing countries, non-formal "women's projects" have been most successful in the short term, although special projects are often difficult to integrate into the mainstream.

It is significant that few of the programmes designed to promote participation have been sustained beyond their special project status. Provision for women needs to be part of a wider strategic programme. The other elements of this strategic programme, some of which also have distance education implications, are:

Equal opportunities monitoring/advisory body;
Requirements on employers to develop equal opportunities policy;
Institutionalisation of child care provision in training and workplace;
Use of media to change stereotyped expectations;
Science and technology education part of core school curriculum;
Safeguards against gender bias in curricular presentation;
Ensuring that the social context of subjects of study is included;
Inclusion of gender issues in units in initial and in-service education of teachers; and
Training for counsellors and guidance personnel.

8. Research Needs

Research is needed to estimate the increase in enrolments likely to arise from expenditure of resources on particular projects and the likelihood of these projects becoming sustainable.

National databases must be developed containing detailed family community and educational information by gender. It has been suggested that, because of the significance of cultural norms on female enrolments, an index of conservatism should be identified or developed to capture these variables. This could be used in studies across social groups, cultural and/or national boundaries for the purposes of comparative study.

In assessing the relative significance of different factors, qualitative and quantitative methods may be employed. Qualitative approaches have been found valuable, employing extended interviews to explore perceptions and experiences with policy-makers, project organisers, practitioners and women themselves.

A quantitative approach could develop and test an extended version of the "Barriers to Participation" questionnaires developed by Darkenwald (1988) in the United States. Suitably constructed, such a questionnaire could identify factors, which can then be scaled into a range of indices to reveal their relative significance among different groups as perceived within and between groups.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods could be used to research the circumstances and policies as experienced. Any evaluation of programmes needs to address the following:

The objectives and the extent to which they were achieved;
The ability of the implementing agency to organise and carry through the programme;
The effects of the environment and the local situation on the process and outcome of the project;
The benefits derived directly and indirectly by the participants and wider community.

9. Conclusion

Overall, policy makers and practitioners engaged in measures to increase women's participation in technological education need to consider these questions:

What is the relative significance of the various barriers?
What strategies are necessary to reduce the barriers?
What affordable, appropriate programmes can be mounted?
Distance education programmes are likely to provide a solution if:

(a) barriers are not overwhelming;

(b) populations are dispersed and/or isolated and, therefore, not easily served by local community based initiatives;

(c) practical ways can be found of providing the crucial support, encouragement and social interaction to secure continuing participation and low drop-out rates.

Appropriate combinations of distance education and face-to-face interaction will be required, both to ensure retention and success, and to counter "ghettoisation of women" in home study.

Resources should first be put into strategies to reduce barriers, which can themselves involve distance education with other modes. In any event, both direct programmes and wider strategies need to be pursued in parallel if gender-sensitive approaches are to become mainstreamed and institutionalised.

Dr. Karen Evans is Director of Graduate Studies in Education at the University of Surrey (UK) and Associate Director of Surrey University Centre for Commonwealth and European Education and Development (SUCCEED). She was attached to COL as a visiting fellow for a two-month period in late 1994. During this period, Dr. Evans researched and prepared a COL Occasional Paper entitled, "Barriers to Participation of Women in Technological Education and the Role of Distance Education," on which this article is based.

The full text, complete with references and bibliography, is available upon request from COL, or it can be accessed through COL's World-Wide Web site on the Internet.

Educational Technology 2000

COL has partnered with the Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre (AMIC), and Intertrade Lanka Management (Pvt) Ltd., a Singapore-based foreign investment company, in organising an international conference and integrated exhibition on distance education technologies.

Educational Technology 2000: A Global Vision for Open and Distance Learning will take place in Colombo at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre from 23 - 27 July, 1996. COL is chiefly responsible for providing technical assistance in organising the event.

Delegates at Educational Technology 2000 will address the potential of emerging technologies to deal with the challenges of mass education. They will also debate issues related to how older and newer technologies could be integrated to meet current and future needs.

The conference and exhibition is expected to draw 500 leaders in distance education and educational administration, who will develop a future action plan for adoption and investment in appropriate technologies. Participants, along with several hundred exhibition-only visitors, will also have the opportunity to view demonstrations of the latest in computer and telecommunications technologies that would help propel their respective countries in the right direction in response to the growing demands for dissemination of information.

The format of this event is refreshingly new as it incorporates guided tours of the exhibition for conference delegates, as a part of their daily agenda. This will provide a unique basis for interaction between exhibitors and delegates, who will be seeking technological solutions to the problems that will have been highlighted during the course of the conference and workshops.

Sri Lanka was selected as the venue for Educational Technology 2000 as it offers modern residential, conference/exhibition, and communications facilities at a central, attractive and convenient location. Often referred to as the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean," Sri Lanka promises to bring an international audience together with technology vendors at one of the lowest costs available anywhere in the world.

Further information can be obtained from either of the following addresses:

The Secretariat, Educational Technology 2000, c/o Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre, 12, D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha, Colombo 10, Sri Lanka. Tel: 94-1-343-238 (to 241) Fax: 94-1-343-237 Electronic mail: intertrd@sri.lanka.net

Dr. Abdul Khan, Acting Head, Communications and Information Technologies, The Commonwealth of Learning, Box 10428 Pacific Centre, #1700 - 777 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V7Y 1K4. Tel: 604-775-8200 Fax: 604-775-8210 Electronic mail: akhan@col.org

COL in Action

Training of Distance Educators

COL's training programmes have focused lately on training resource material, trainer development and strengthening the ability of client institutions to undertake human resource development for their faculty and staff. A study was commissioned to develop a framework for the training of distance educators in the Commonwealth, with the findings influencing COL's strategic planning for 1995 - 98.

Two content areas have received particular attention: instructional design and media training. Under COL auspices, an international expert group assessed the status of training in the area of instructional design and developed a preliminary course design. This was followed by a systematic needs assessment which validated the critical need and strong demand for training in this area. Proposals have also been developed, with the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, for the design and production of training materials in a distance format as well as the design of a workshop on the operation and educational applications of audio-conferencing networks.

A project to produce a series of train-the-trainer modules, for use by COL-commissioned trainers, has begun in conjunction with Training and Development Canada; to date three modules have been developed.

Several specific training activities, covering a wide variety of distance education-related skills, continue to take place under COL sponsorship at institutions throughout the Commonwealth. Many of these are additionally supported by the expertise available through the COL/BC Government Fellowship programme.

COL was also instrumental in the design and delivery of a planning workshop, with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), for the implementation of distance education programmes through the respective SEAMEO Centres. Funding for the workshop, held in April 1995 was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), through the Canada-ASEAN Office in Singapore.

Public Administration

The development of distance education course material for the joint COL/Commonwealth Secretariat Legislative Drafting Project is nearing completion. This training course will be offered as a pilot programme in 1996, co-ordinated by RIPA (Int), London, which has won the contract to be the programme's Central Delivery Agency. The law faculties of the Commonwealth's two regional universities - the University of the West Indies (Barbados) and the University of the South Pacific (Vanuatu) - have agreed to be the initial Regional Delivery Agencies.

African Programmes

Programme activities in Africa have focused recently on training in specialised skills for distance education including course editing, record keeping and student support, conducted by resource persons drawn from the region. Greater effort has also been made towards integrating these activities with COL's regular programmes in the region through the involvement of COL's regional office and with support of the Australian High Commission in Harare.

A Small Grants Fund supported by the COL/AusAID Programme has been introduced in order to facilitate collaboration and skills-sharing between distance education institutions in the region through short-term local consultancies. This fund will enhance inter-institutional collaboration among the members of the sub-regional and national distance education associations.

With COL's advice and support, the West African Distance Education Association (WADEA) is establishing professional linkages with the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA). Joint training activities, focusing on strategic planning and management, have been organised.

Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme

Orientation/training programmes are taking place throughout the Commonwealth over the next few months for tutors who will be working locally with students enrolled in COL's Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme. Resource persons from the delivering agency, Indira Gandhi National Open University (India), have been used extensively.

Open Schooling

An understanding has been reached in principle with the Asian and Pacific Regional Office for UNESCO toward a collaborative working relationship with COL in the area of education for women and girls, especially through open schooling initiatives.

Toward a Commonwealth Credit Bank

In collaboration with COL, the United Kingdom Open University has commenced a feasibility study for the establishment and operation of a Commonwealth Credit Bank. Work began on phase one of the study, an investigation of the need for and feasibility of such an agency, in early April 1995. The phase one report was submitted at the end of July and its recommendations are positive. The report for phase two, the operational aspects of the project, will be completed later this year.

Information Resources - at your service

Collection development for COL's Information Resource Centre has continued at a steady pace focusing on materials in the distance education and international development fields. Sample course materials and details on the availability of others is a key component, as is electronic access to specialty data-bases world-wide. Reference services are available to affiliated agencies, educational institutions, and government departments.

People

Dr. Gajaraj (Raj) Dhanarajan, the newly-appointed President of The Commonwealth of Learning, arrived in Vancouver on September 5, 1995 to take up his post. A Malaysian citizen and forest biologist, Dr. Dhanarajan comes to COL having completed a five-year term as Director of the Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong. He is accompanied by his wife, Sue Yee Ah Fong.

COL Board member, the Honourable Iona Campagnolo, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. Established by the Canadian Government in 1988 and based in Montréal, Canada, the independent Centre works to foster human rights and freedoms throughout the world by promoting democratic institutions and processes.

Completing a three-year assignment as COL's Director of Communications and Information Technologies, Mr. Richard Simpson returned to his substantive position with the Canadian Government in Ottawa, as Director General, Information Highway Advisory Council Secretariat (Industry Canada), at the end of September 1995. Mr. Simpson was instrumental in shaping COL's directions in technological support for distance education and in forging new and exciting alliances for COL on a world-wide scale. From March to August 1995, Mr.. Simpson also served as Acting President of the organisation. COL's Chairman, Dr. H. Ian Macdonald, in his remarks at the September meeting of the Board of Governors, stated:

In recent years, executive interchange programmes have become a popular technique for breaking down the real or imaginary barriers between business and government. In the case of The Commonwealth of Learning, we were fortunate that this opportunity was made available by the Government of Canada to us although we are, in fact, a not-for-profit international education and development agency. The steady increase in the credibility and respectability of The Commonwealth of Learning in bringing modern technology and communication skills to the complex task of distance learning is, in no small degree, attributable to the leadership provided by Richard Simpson. His contribution to this organisation and to his colleagues will remain, as we enlarge our scope of activities.

Richard's role was greatly magnified during the past few months when he took on the unenviable task of serving as Acting President, upon the departure of Dr. James Maraj and before the arrival of Dr. Raj Dhanarajan. For me, a few months of potential difficulty turned out to be stimulating and satisfying as a result of his extraordinary efforts.

We all owe a great debt to him; he has turned over a very tidy ship to our new President, and has continued over the past few weeks to assist in the transition through his insight and experience.

We all wish Richard success and happiness when he returns to Ottawa; we will consider him to be a continuing member of the COL family and a knowledgeable ambassador for us wherever his work may lead him.

Dr. Tony Bates joined Continuing Studies at the University of British Columbia (Canada) as Director of Distance Education and Technology on June 1, 1995. He is responsible for UBC's Guided Studies and UBC Access operations and represents the University in its liaison with distance education-related associations and agencies. Dr. Bates is well known to the international distance education community. Before joining UBC, he was responsible for educational technology and strategic planning at British Columbia's Open Learning Agency. Prior to his move to OLA, he spent two decades with the British Open University.

Dr. Tony Dodds, Executive Director of the International Extension College has been appointed, on secondment, as Director of the Centre for External Studies at the University of Namibia.

Former Commonwealth Secretariat adult and distance education specialist, Dr. Hilary Perraton, has been appointed as the first project director of the new International Research Foundation for Open Learning, based in Cambridge, England.

Events

COL/AusAID Southern Africa

The Programme Advisory Committee for COL/AusAID programmes in Southern Africa met in Gaborone, Botswana on September 19 and 20, 1995. The planning sessions were chaired by Botswana's Minister of Education, the Honourable Dr. Gaositwe K.T. Chiepe, and included full participation by the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA).

PIRADE & ODLAA

The Pacific Islands Regional Association for Distance Education (PIRADE) held a joint conference and forum with the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA), in Port Vila, Vanuatu from September 21 - 25, 1995. COL/AusAID supported attendance by several participants from the University of Papua New Guinea, the College of Distance Education in PNG, PIRADE, and various University of the South Pacific Centres. A COL training programme was also held in conjunction with the conference.

New Zealand Distance Education Mission to Canada

A New Zealand distance education mission to Canada arrived in Vancouver on September 30, 1995 and held discussions with COL staff on October 2. The mission, organised by Industry Canada, introduced the visitors to the latest technologies, products, and equipment available to support distance learning and provided an opportunity to discuss joint ventures with Canadian institutions and businesses. Organisations represented in the mission team included the New Zealand Ministry of Education, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, Christchurch College of Education, the Australasian Teleconferencing Association (ATA), the New Zealand Tele-Learning Network, the Pacific Island Education Resource Centre (PIERC), B & I Electronic Consultants, and Mander Associates.

Indian Distance Education Association

The Indian Distance Education Association held its annual conference in Madras on October 12 and 13, 1995. The theme of this year's conference was Developing Integrated Approaches to Strengthen Correspondence Course Systems. As part of its role to promote professional bodies in distance education, COL has extended support to enable the event to take place.

Teacher Education by Distance in South Asia

COL, UNESCO, and UNICEF are jointly sponsoring a regional seminar to explore distance education initiatives, and the potential for collaboration, in teacher education within Asia . The meeting is being organised by the South Asian Forum for Distance Education Development (SAFDED) at the Open University of Sri Lanka and will be held in Sri Lanka from November 7 - 10, 1995.

CADE 1996

The 12th annual Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE) conference takes place in Moncton, New Brunswick from May 22 - 25, 1996. Distance Education: The Link that Brings Us Together is the theme for the conference and sub-themes are developing in the areas of converging technologies, teaching/learning strategies, organisational issues, public and private sector partnerships, and global village concepts. Further information can be obtained from: CADE 1996 Conference, c/o Continuing Education, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB Canada E1A 3E9. Tel: 506-858-4121 Fax: 506-858-4489
E-mail: distance@umoncton.ca

New Publications

The following titles have been published recently by The Commonwealth of Learning and are available upon request. COL has a policy of charging nominal shipping and handling costs on publications orders from institutions in developed and non-Commonwealth countries. Pre-payments or purchase orders are required.

Most of these documents can also be accessed through COL's World-Wide Web site on the Internet. URL's are as noted below.

Report on Programmes - September 1995: This document profiles COL's programme activities from September 1994 to September 1995 in greater detail than is possible through COMLEARN or Annual Reports. (15 pages) ( This document profiles COL's programme activities from September 1994 to September 1995 in greater detail than is possible through or Annual Reports. (15 pages) (

Report of the Board of The Commonwealth of Learning to Commonwealth Heads of Government - November 1995: Referred to in this issue of COMLEARN, through this report COL's Board of Governors asks Commonwealth Governments to reaffirm their dedication to the aims and activities of COL and to renew their financial commitments to the agency. (six pages, plus appendices)

Barriers to Participation of Women in Technological Education and the Role of Distance Education: This is a COL Occasional Paper, prepared by Dr. Karen Evans, of the University of Surrey (UK), and the basis for the article Distance Education: Helping overcome barriers to women's technological education, which appears in this issue of COMLEARN. (15 pages)

South Pacific Women in Distance Education - Studies from countries of The University of the South Pacific: In 1991, The University of the South Pacific initiated a project to study the barriers facing women in distance education in eight Pacific countries. This was initially funded by AusAID, through the University Research Committee. Subsequently, COL provided further substantial funding, toward a collaborative effort, and the project has now resulted in this USP/COL co-publication. The status of women in USP member countries, trends in women's enrolment and their performance in distance education, and suggestions for affirmative action are among the components of the research. USP will be acting on the recommendations. This research will be highlighted in a future edition of COMLEARN. Enquires may be made directly to the University Extension department at USP in Fiji.
E-mail: bolabola_c@usp.ac.fj
(319 pages, plus 31 introductory pages; Aus.$20)

Telephone number changes

Please note that The Commonwealth of Learning's telephone and fax numbers have been changed. The main telephone number for COL headquarters in Vancouver, Canada is now 604-775-8200, and the new fax number is 604-775-8210. All direct-line telephone numbers for COL departments and staff have also changed. An intercept service on the old lines will be in place for several months, but some confusion will be unavoidable. COL apologises for any inconvenience that this may cause.