The OER for Skills Development is a three-year project funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, USA. Over the course of the project (July 2015 – June 2018), COL has worked with approximately 80 institutions at different levels of the educational spectrum to support capacity building in OER, the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning, policy development for OER and the development of relevant courses by repurposing OER to be made available as OER. Further, COL has supported several institutions to mainstream OER at a systemic level.

In the three years of operation, the project has supported the development of 29 provincial OER policies and guidelines in three countries, developed 53 institutional OER policies in the higher education and TVET sectors, trained approximately 300 teachers in over 100 institutions on the use of OER teaching and learning, sensitized over 650 policymakers on the benefits of OER for education, and developed 26 courses and toolkits contributing to the propagation of OER. Further, the OERFAQ.info community of practice, which answers over 100 peer-reviewed FAQs, has become a main go-to place for all things OER.

COL’s long-term vision is for institutions and organisations across the Commonwealth to develop and use OER-based courses and materials to provide access to quality education and training and support the development of sustainable livelihoods for all Commonwealth citizens.