Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning
Excellence in Distance Education Awards
Part 2: Honorary Fellows of COL
26 November 2010
Kochi, India
Presented by
Professor Asha Kanwar
Commonwealth of Learning
Colleagues and Friends; Ladies and Gentlemen:
A very warm welcome to this afternoon of celebrating individual excellence in open and distance learning. Yesterday, we recognised outstanding institutions, teams and individuals in the first part of the Excellence in Distance Education Awards. Today, we shall confer Honorary Fellowships on five individuals who have made outstanding contributions to distance education in leadership and service, published works, lectures and presentations, national or international presence and mentorship. Consideration is normally limited to citizens of the Commonwealth countries and these designations are for life.
During the past five PCFs, COL has honoured 39 distinguished men and women who have made distinct contributions to the field of open and distance learning across the Commonwealth. We are fortunate to have some of them among us today. They are the Honourable Burchell Whiteman, Ms Jenny Glennie, Ros Morpeth, Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, Professor Ram Takwale, and Professor Uma Coomaraswamy. Ladies and Gentlemen, please give them a round of applause.
The Honorary COL fellows not only represent the diversity of the Commonwealth but also constitute the common wealth of the distance education community. We salute them for their contributions to inclusive quality education and for their crusade to reach the unreached, especially those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. It is thanks to champions such as these that distance education continues to grow from strength to strength, especially in the developing world, where its need is most dire.
I will call on my colleagues to present the citations.
Let me first invite Alison Mead Richardson to read the citation for the first Fellow, who is:
Professor Aminul Islam, Bangladesh
Thank you Alison.
The Open University of Bangladesh flourished and grew under Professor Islam’s leadership. Increasing access to higher education was a personal crusade for him—as you may know, in Bangladesh GER in tertiary education is 7%. Since Prof Islam has written the first book on ODL in Bangla, let me quote from a beautiful Bengali poem:
USHAR DUAREY HANI AGHAT
AAMRA ANIBO RANGA PROVAT
AAMRA TUTABO TIMIR RAAT
BADHAR BRINDHACHAL
Let me translate this for you:
USHER THE COLORFUL DAWN BY BREAKING THE DOOR TO THE SUN
THE DARK NIGHT WILL DISAPPEAR AS WE MARCH AGAINST ALL ODDS
On that inspirational note, I now invite Dr. Abdurrahman Umar to come up for the second citation for:
Dr. Roger Mills, UK
Thank you Abdurrahman.
Dr. Roger Mills is one of our most well-known stalwarts of distance education. Many ODL institutions have been the weakest in the areas of learner support and research. Dr. Mills’ contributions have been in precisely these two major areas. His knowledge and understanding of distance education has been phenomenal. Let me tweak the words of the poet Oliver Goldsmith, to express his impact on the global distance learning community:
While words of learned length and [erudite] sound
Amazed the [distance educators] rang’d around;
And still they gaz'd, and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.
On that poetic note, I will now request my colleague Ms. Trudi van Wyk to present the citation for the third Fellow:
The Honourable Naledi Pandor, South Africa
Her Excellency Deborah Balatseng, Acting High Commissioner for South Africa in New Delhi, will accept the award on behalf of the Honourable Minister.
Thank you Trudi.
The Honourable Naledi Pandor has been a great champion of inclusive education, with special attention to gender equity. As she says, and I quote, ‘We want to see an increase in the number of women role models for young students who wish to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology….we can do better in the science and technology sector. Why do I say this? ...because gender equity in education and employment is easier to achieve in a post-industrial economy than in an industrial economy.’ And if she is resolved, it will be done. As the South African slogan of the women’s movement goes
Watinta Bafaazi
Watinta Umbho Kodo
Which means
When you touch a woman
You touch a rock!
May I ask Ms. Frances Ferreira to present the next citation for the award to.
Peecheeta Spencer, Antigua and Barbuda
Thank you Frances.
Peecheeta has brought ‘sweetness and light’ into the lives of many. Even though she has given up her day job as Principal, we know that an educationist never retires. Even if she did, as a wise man once said: ‘The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off!’
Let the words from a Dominican song describe her situation:
‘A little sleep would be so sweet, but ah hustling here in the heat
Cause I have my children to educate ….’
So in her own gentle way, Peecheeta will continue to defy the heat and educate the world.
And last but not least, I ask John Lesperance to present the final citation for:
John Tarrant, UK
Thank you John.
Professor Tarrant has been, until recently, a Member of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth of Learning. I remember when he came for his first meeting, and I saw his larger-than-life personality, Coleridge’s lines flashed through my mind, and I share these with you:
‘Beware beware
His flashing eyes his floating hair
Weave a circle round him thrice….’
But as it turned out, there was no need to weave any circles round him at all. He was most statesmanlike, sympathetic and sensitive and we have learned a lot from him. At the WISE Summit last year, he said ‘Firstly, we must move away from looking at access as a series of compartments – access for men, women, disadvantaged communities, and so on – and talk about inclusiveness…. Secondly, if we look at the outputs of education rather than the activity, the one thing we want to show is that education has given life-changing opportunities. That is the sign of a quality educational system.’ Wise words indeed!
Now, I will hand you over to Sir John.