COL, through its regional centre in West Africa, the Regional Training and Research Institute for Distance and Open Learning (RETRIDOL), has been working with the University of Bamenda (UBa) in Cameroon to advance Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and expand access to inclusive and quality higher education.
COL’s ODL initiative in Cameroon began following a 2023 regional workshop facilitated by RETRIDOL. Following the workshop, participating stakeholders from Cameroon requested COL’s technical assistance to develop a National ODL Policy. Shortly after, in 2024, COL partnered with the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) to convene a capacity-building session to advance Cameroon’s national ODL policy agenda. During this session, international best practices were reviewed, and an ODL policy document was drafted. The draft document was later reviewed and approved by the government in 2025, signalling ownership and a strong national commitment to implementation.
From regional dialogue to national action, COL is now building on momentum from the past few years to initiate institutional implementation in Cameroon. With UBa as a pilot institution, 48 academic and administrative staff were convened for an ODL capacity-building session in early 2026. The training marked the first step towards practical implementation and launched UBa’s progress toward ODL accreditation readiness and the strengthening of internal systems, staff competencies and quality assurance practices required for sustainable, high-quality ODL delivery.
In his opening remarks, Professor Suh Emmanuel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (ICT), reaffirmed UBa’s commitment to digital transformation and described ODL as a strategic lever for widening access, ensuring learning continuity, and strengthening institutional resilience. He further underscored the importance of a sustained collaboration with COL.
Designed to move participants from conceptual understanding to practical application, the training combined technical learning with intensive hands-on activities. The session also integrated academic, technological, administrative and learner-support functions to bolster course design capabilities, learner-support strategies, and operational requirements for scalable, quality-assured delivery.
Professor Jane-Frances Agbu, Adviser: Higher Education at COL, reaffirmed COL’s commitment to inclusive, flexible, and technology-enabled education:
“COL’s regional to national, to institutional, pathway reflects a collective, methodological approach to ODL implementation and provides clear reference points and learning journeys for stakeholders.”
COL’s work in Cameroon highlights its leadership in ODL and aligns with The Gaborone Statement’s call for equity with quality at scale, the ethical use of the digital dividend, and positive disruption in post-secondary education. It also reaffirms the importance of fostering inclusive collaborations across the Commonwealth to sustain global progress toward learning for sustainable development.
