VANCOUVER - Following his nomination by Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has appointed Jamaica's High Commissioner to the U.K., His Excellency, the Honourable Burchell Whiteman, O.J. as its Chair.
Burchell Whiteman has been a member of COL's Board since 2002 as the representative for the Caribbean. He became Vice-Chair in 2007 and served as Acting Chair after the death of Mr. Lewis Perinbam in December 2007.
In nominating him as Chair the Secretary-General noted: "Burchell has an exceptional record in the field of education, and is well known to us all as a highly effective COL Board Member".
Starting his professional career more than 40 years ago as a teacher, he became a politician in 1989, served as Jamaica's Minister of Education for 10 years and then as Information Minister and Government Leader in the Senate.
In 2006 Whiteman was awarded the Order of Jamaica for his outstanding contribution to education and the legislature and was also named an Honorary Fellow of COL. He took up his current London posting in early 2007.
COL's President, Sir John Daniel, expressed his delight at the appointment saying: "COL is truly fortunate to have such an experienced educator, politician and diplomat in this vital post. Burchell gained a tremendous reputation for his work as Minister of Education in Jamaica and was highly regarded by his fellow Ministers around the Commonwealth. With his thorough knowledge of information and communications technology and his familiarity with intergovernmental matters he is ideally equipped to lead COL in developing and implementing its Three-Year Plan for 2009-12."
Ms. Jenny Glennie, Director, South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) and South Africa's representative on the COL Board, has been elected Deputy Chair.
Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr has been appointed to the COL Board as the representative for Africa. A distinguished Ghanaian and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Sawyerr was until recently Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities. He has held teaching and research appointments at universities and research institutes in Africa, Europe, Asia and the U.S., and has authored numerous publications. Professor Sawyerr succeeds Professor Penina Mlama on COL's Board.
Maldives Minister of Education, the Honourable Zahiya Zareer, is the Board's new representative for Asia. She is a former Chair of the Maldives National Commission for UNESCO and Minister of Gender, Family Development and Social Security. Her late father was a minister in the former government, her mother sat in the parliament and her uncle is the current Foreign Minister. The Board's previous representative for Asia was Dr. Tara de Mel of Sri Lanka.
The Commonwealth of Learning, which is based in Vancouver and New Delhi, was created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. The Commonwealth comprises 53 countries -- most of which are developing nations -- and one-quarter of the world's population.
Further information:
Dave Wilson
Communications Manager
Commonwealth of Learning
info@col.orgFurther reference:
www.col.orgwww.col.org/boardwww.col.org/bwhitemanhttp://jhcuk.orghttp://tinyurl.com/JamaicaInfoService-Whiteman
www.unu.edu/council/members/sawyerr.html
http://tinyurl.com/cedol-zareer