Commonwealth of LearningCHOGM26 · Talking points

New Models for School

Reaching beyond the classroom

02

Talking point 02Commonwealth of Learning
infocol.org

Schooling must change

In 2024, 273 million children and young people were out of school: one in six of school age. In low-income countries, the number has risen by 29% since 2015.*

* Source: UN DESA (2026).

Educators seated at laptops around tables in a training room, with a facilitator standing at the front beside a projected screen.
Open schooling pioneers at Emlalatini Development Centre, Eswatini, plan the move from print-based to digital and blended open schooling, 2023.

Opportunity for action

Members can accelerate in partnership

Recognise open schooling as a mainstream, funded route to 12 years of quality education for every young person.

5 milestones to 2030 PDF pp. 3–4

The argument

Basic schooling matters

School learning is pivotal to a resilient society, since investment in schooling leads directly to social stability and national productivity. But for much of the world, classrooms could never be built fast enough and qualified teachers are missing to close the gap in need. In sub-Saharan Africa, only 68% of children complete primary school, 47% lower secondary and 28% upper secondary (UN DESA, 2026).

Nor is simply being in school the same as learning.

Across 57 countries, the share of students reaching minimum proficiency in reading fell from 59% to 47% between 2012 and 2022. By 2030, the social cost of children leaving school without basic skills is estimated at US$10 trillion a year (UNESCO et al., 2024).

Even with unlimited budgets, conventional schooling would still fail learners who cannot reach a classroom, cannot stay, or need more flexible learning options to succeed. Rather than think of young people ‘dropping out’, we must admit that our systems are pushing them out, through economic marginalisation, social pressures and rigidity in our processes. The cost is human and financial, and we can change it.

Out of school: up 29% in low-income countries since 2015, broadly flat elsewhere

Out-of-school children and young people of primary and secondary school age: low-income countries vs all other countries combined, 2015–2024; % change since 2015, or millions

Sources: Oesttveit & Antoninis (2026), World Education Blog, Figure 4.3 (GEM Report and UIS data; series derived by adding age groups); UN DESA (2026), The Sustainable Development Goals report 2026.

YearSeriesChange since 2015
2015Low-income0%
2016Low-income3%
2017Low-income6%
2018Low-income9%
2019Low-income13%
2020Low-income17%
2021Low-income20%
2022Low-income24%
2023Low-income26%
2024Low-income29%
2015Rest of the world0%
2016Rest of the world−2%
2017Rest of the world−3%
2018Rest of the world−4%
2019Rest of the world−4%
2020Rest of the world−4%
2021Rest of the world−4%
2022Rest of the world−4%
2023Rest of the world−4%
2024Rest of the world−5%

Open schooling narrows the gap: flexible, blended, technology-supported provision that offers a quality alternative and a second chance, while strengthening the conventional system it sits beside.

Proof points

The schooling gap, and open schooling’s reach

Each card represents evidence in a strategic talking point, chosen because it shows the need or a result of COL’s work. Use the share button to copy a card as an image with a link back to this page.

28%

of children in sub-Saharan Africa complete upper secondary

NeedUN DESA (2026)

44,863

new enrolments in open schooling courses developed with COL support, against a 15,000 target

ResultCOL

Case study

Eswatini

When COL first engaged with Eswatini’s Emlalatini Development Centre (EDC) in 2019, its open schooling model was struggling. Today open schooling is a key pillar of the Ministry’s forward-looking national strategy and attracts significant government investment (Maseko, as cited in Mays & Siafu, 2025).

COL’s support followed a deliberate path: policy and strategy first, then tutor and teacher capacity, then the move from print to digital and blended learning. Open schooling now improves alignment across the system, and the same resources strengthen conventional schools, especially during pandemics and natural disasters, and in districts where examination results have been poor.

A second chance that strengthens the conventional schoolIllustrative model

The talking point’s model, in its own words. Compare the two systems, then select any part.

Even with unlimited budgets, conventional schooling would still fail learners who cannot reach a classroom, cannot stay, or need more flexible learning options to succeed; open schooling beside it narrows the gap and offers a quality alternative and a second chance; and by 2030 open and conventional schools are to share resources, teachers and credit (milestone 5).

Source: the talking point (‘Basic schooling matters’, the Eswatini case study, the ask, milestones 1 and 5). A schematic: lengths and positions carry no numbers.

Eswatini also shows the Commonwealth advantage at work! In the early stages, teachers and learners used open resources created in Malawi. Meanwhile, Botswana Open University alerted classroom teachers to the open schooling Open Educational Resources it had developed, and its College of Open Schooling has since adopted a new strategic plan and business model with COL. What one Member Nation builds, others can adapt.

High-impact open schooling is a multi-year, multi-phase process of developing, piloting, scaling and then mainstreaming, until open schooling becomes a line item in a ministry’s own budget. Because every context is different, there is no cookie-cutter model. COL’s support is tailored: advisory in Nigeria, exploratory with new ministry partners such as Cameroon, Jamaica and Togo, and hands-on with Africa partners and Papua New Guinea.

Lesotho’s Distance Teaching Centre is becoming a College of Open and Distance Learning.

COL’s open schooling work aims for 12 years of quality schooling for every girl in the Commonwealth, with a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa. In Mozambique, open and innovative schooling has been implemented in 15 secondary schools (Cossa et al., 2021), showing how the model can strengthen, not replace, the conventional school.

Across COL’s open schooling partnerships in more than 20 countries, new enrolments in courses developed with COL support have reached 44,863 against a target of 15,000, for a very modest investment.

The next step is regional. In the Caribbean, where the disengagement among boys and young men is an enduring concern, COL proposes an open school offering dual certification, academic and vocational learning together, with built-in mentoring (Jha, 2025), and country case studies in Jamaica and St Kitts and Nevis have gauged the response. At the Caribbean Examinations Council conference in Jamaica in March 2026, Dominica’s Minister of Education, the Hon. Octavia Alfred, joined COL’s session, where participants backed an Innovative Open School for the region, to be piloted before it scales. New research on Caribbean young men who succeeded against the odds is helping to shape what that support should look like.

Places of impact

Member Nations named in this talking point

12 of the 56 Member Nations. Every member is one equal tile, so small states stay visible; select a tile to read what happens there.

  1. SWZ
    EswatiniEmlalatini Development Centre: open schooling, struggling in 2019, is now a key pillar of national strategy
  2. MWI
    MalawiOpen resources created in Malawi were used by Eswatini’s teachers and learners in the early stages
  3. BWA
    BotswanaBotswana Open University’s College of Open Schooling adopted a new strategic plan and business model with COL
  4. LSO
    LesothoDistance Teaching Centre is becoming a College of Open and Distance Learning
  5. MOZ
    MozambiqueOpen and innovative schooling in 15 secondary schools: the model can strengthen, not replace, the conventional school
  6. NGA
    NigeriaCOL’s tailored open schooling support: advisory
  7. CMR
    TGO
    Cameroon, TogoNew ministry partner; COL’s support is exploratory
  8. JAM
    JamaicaNew ministry partner; Caribbean country case study; Caribbean Examinations Council conference, March 2026
  9. KNA
    St Kitts and NevisCountry case study gauging the response to an open school for the Caribbean
  10. DMA
    DominicaMinister of Education, the Hon. Octavia Alfred, joined COL’s session at the Caribbean Examinations Council conference
  11. PNG
    Papua New GuineaCOL’s tailored open schooling support: hands-on

Opportunity for action

Members can accelerate in partnership

Recognise open schooling as a mainstream, funded route to 12 years of quality education for every young person.

CHOGM26 · 1–4 November 2026

Milestones

  1. At CHOGM26Commit

    Recognise open schooling as a mainstream, equitable pathway, not a last resort, in national education sector plans.

  2. By mid-2027Map the need

    Identify out-of-school and disengaged learners by district, gender and disability, and where open schooling can reach them.

    GenderDisability
  3. By end 2027Pilot

    Launch blended open schooling with shared open resources, trained tutors and, where relevant, dual academic and skills certification.

    Trained tutorsSkills certification
  4. By CHOGM28Budget and scale

    Scale successful pilots and make open schooling a line item in the Ministry’s own budget.

  5. By 2030Mainstream

    Open and conventional schools share resources, teachers and credit as one coherent, resilient system.

We continue to act

COL will provide policy advice, open curriculum resources, tutor training and evidence. We connect countries so that what one builds, others can adapt.

From the newsroom

We are already moving

Stories from the Commonwealth of Learning that highlight this strategic talking point. Each opens on col.org.

Workshop participants at desks listen to a facilitator beside flip-chart notes

Why business models matter for ODL

COL's ODL business-model approach has supported Botswana Open University's College of Open Schooling, a proposed Open University of Ghana whose model was approved in June 2026, and Zambia's ZACODE.

“Following subsequent capacity-building workshops with implementing staff, the new model is now being rolled out in eight districts in Copperbelt Province and one district in North-Western Province.”

New Models for SchoolHigher Education
Young men practising electrical wiring around a table during a training session

Responding to boys’ disengagement from education through flexible learning, skills, and support

Research on men in the Caribbean who succeeded in education against the odds informed a COL open school concept addressing boys’ disengagement, which COL plans to pilot in selected Caribbean Member States.

“The model proposes integrating academic education with vocational training, alongside community- and peer-based mentoring and innovative learning activities, leading to dual certification.”

New Models for School21st Century Skills
Cover of the August 2026 issue of Connections (Vol 31, No 2) showing a group photo on building steps

Now live: The August issue of Connections explores expanded opportunities for the next generation

COL’s August issue of Connections covers youth innovation ahead of CHOGM 2026, the disengagement of boys and young men from education, pathways for women in science and technology, and livelihood-focused skills development.

“With young people representing more than 60 per cent of the Commonwealth’s population, this issue of Connections looks at the opportunities and barriers they face”

21st Century SkillsEmpowering Women and GirlsNew Models for School
Title graphic with a portrait of Danny Faure, Chair of COL’s Board of Governors and former President of Seychelles

Reimagining school leadership in Seychelles: Leading change in a complex educational landscape

In a keynote to Seychelles headteachers, COL Board Chair Danny Faure proposed open schooling to reach young people not well served, including NEETs, and highlighted COL-supported teacher digital professional development.

“A cascading capacity-building model trained 71 Master Trainers, who subsequently trained 554 teachers nationwide from 37 schools.”

C21 TeachingNew Models for SchoolSmall State Advantage
Connections banner reading Voices of Small States, with a group photo and a map of the Caribbean

Caribbean Focal Points set priorities for skills and digital transformation

COL’s March 2026 Caribbean Focal Points Meeting in Kingston put teacher development at the top of regional priorities, drew interest in piloting innovative open schooling, and stressed collaboration among small states.

“Senior officials from 12 Caribbean Commonwealth countries, along with Malta, met to share their thoughts, work more closely together, and identify priorities for improving education and skills development”

Small State AdvantageC21 TeachingNew Models for School

Working in synergy

Connections

This talking point aligns with the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Democratic pillar and the Commonwealth Foundation’s focus on freedom of expression.

Talking points on the same pillar

References

Sources (6)

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