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India

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India is the largest Commonwealth country, with a population of over 1.4 billion (World Bank, 2022).

COL works in many programme areas in India — Higher Education, Empowering Women and Girls, Lifelong Learning for Farmers, Open Schooling, Technology-Enabled Learning and Skills for Work — through its regional centre, the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), based in New Delhi. Learners from India are also participating in COL’s free, open online courses and benefit from other available resources.

Highlights

  •  Seventeen State Open Universities and the Indira Gandhi National Open University formed a Consortium of Indian Open Universities (COIOU) in 2025.
  • Sixteen faculty development programmes on Technology-Enabled Learning and Blended Learning have been held for university faculty members since 2024.
  • A draft National Policy on Blended Learning with the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) was launched in April 2024.
  • In 2023, COL-CEMCA facilitated a forum of all State Open Universities (OUs) in India, which tabled the Ahmedabad Declaration, a collaboration of OUs and integration of OERs into educational programmes.
  • COL-CEMCA facilitated Open Universities to obtain dual status as both awarding and assessment bodies under the National Council for Vocational Education and Training for skill qualifications, as aligned to the National Skills Qualifications Framework.
  • The Teacher Development Programme has been offered by COL-CEMCA to over 100,000 teachers in the fields of AI and OER.
  • COL-CEMCA’s resources to build capacity of faculty members are available on the University Grants Commission’s Portal.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL’s partners in India include:

  • Amity University Haryana
  • Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Academy
  • Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank
  • Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education
  • Anvarat Foundation
  • Association of Indian Universities
  • Automotive Skills Development Council
  • Avinashalingam University
  •  Bhartiya Skill Development University
  • Campus of Open Learning, Delhi University
  • Capital Goods Skill Council
  • Central Institute of Educational Technology
  • Central University of Himachal Pradesh
  • Central Board of Secondary Education
  • Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, Bangalore
  • ChangeInkk Foundation
  • CSC e-Governance Services India Limited
  • Department of Women and Child Development, Government of NCT of Delhi
  • Dayalbagh Education Institute, Agra
  • Developing Library Network
  • Digital Empowerment Foundation
  • Domestic Worker Sector Skill Council
  • Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University
  • Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
  • Furniture and Fitting Skill Council
  • Global Pro Sports for Development
  • GMR Varalakshmi Foundation
  • Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
  • India Power Sector Skill Council
  • Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi
  • Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur
  • Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
  • Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
  • Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati
  • Indian Plumbing Skills Council
  • Indian Social Science Institute, New Delhi
  • Indira Gandhi National Open University
  • International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore
  • ISAP India Foundation
  • IT for Change
  • Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University
  • Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences University
  • Karnataka State Open University
  • Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University
  • M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
  • Madhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) University
  • Manav Rachna University
  • Mann Deshi Foundation
  • Ministry of Ayush, Government of India
  • Ministry of Education, Government of India
  • Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
  • Model Institute of Education and Research
  • Nalanda Open University
  • National Council of Educational Research and Training
  • National Council for Vocational Education and Training
  • National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration
  • National Institute of Engineering, Mysore
  • National Institute of Open Schooling
  • National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research Bhopal
  • National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research Chennai
  • National Skills Network
  • Netaji Subhas Open University
  • North Bengal University
  • Odisha State Open University
  • Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Open University
  • Puchalapalli Chinnamma Arogya Sadanam Trust
  • Ravenshaw University
  • SCORE Foundation
  • Search for Truth and Return to Science
  • Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation
  • SNDT University
  • Somaiya Vidyavihar University
  • Sofocle Innovation Labs Pvt. Ltd.
  • Sreenarayanaguru Open University Kerala
  • Tamil Nadu Open University
  • Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation
  • Textile Sector Skill Council
  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, New Delhi
  • U. P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University
  • Uttarakhand Open University
  • Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University
  • Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University
  • VIDIYAL
  • Vidyasagar University
  • West Bengal State University
  • Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University

Key Contacts

Board of Governors

Dr Vineet Joshi
Secretary, Higher Education
Ministry of Education

Focal Point

Mr Anandrao Vishnu Patil
Additional Secretary (CU)
Department of Higher Education
Ministry of Education

Notable Mention

Mr R.P. Agrawal, former member of COL Board of Governors

The late Mr. Sudeep K. Banerjee, former member of COL Board of Governors

Mr B.S. Baswan, former member of COL Board of Governors

Mr B.K. Chaturvedi, former member of COL Board of Governors

Ms Vibha Puri Das, former member of COL Board of Governors

Mr P.R. Dasgupta, former member of COL Board of Governors

Professor Sudhir K. Jain, former member of COL Board of Governors

Professor Vasudha Kamat, Honorary COL Adviser

Professor Asha S. Kanwar, former COL President & CEO

Mr M.K. Kaw, former member of COL Board of Governors

Mr Kamaraj Keppanan, COL Honorary Fellow

Dr Abdul Waheed Khan, COL Honorary Fellow

Mr Amit Khare, former member of COL Board of Governors

Professor Badri Nath Koul, COL Honorary Fellow

Father T.V. Kunnunkal, COL Honorary Fellow

Mr Mahesh Chandra Pant, COL Honorary Fellow

Professor T.V. Prabhakar, COL Chair (Department of Computer Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur)

Professor Vasireddy Sivalinga Prasad, COL Honorary Fellow

Dr Mrs K. Rama, former Honorary COL Adviser

Professor Nageshwar Rao, COL Honorary Fellow

The late Professor G. Ram Reddy, COL Honorary Fellow and member of COL’s Founding Board of Governors

Mr K K Sharma, former member of COL Board of Governors

Mr Abhimanyu Singh, former member of COL Board of Governors

Ms Chetna Vijay Sinha, COL Honorary Fellow

Mr R. Subrahmanyam, former member of COL Board of Governors

The late Professor V.C. Kulandai Swamy, COL Honorary Fellow

Professor Ram G. Takwale, COL Honorary Fellow

Mr S.C. Tripathi, former member of COL Board of Governors

More Information

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