The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia Advisory Council held its annual meeting in Sri Lanka on December 11, 2017, whilst the International Conference on Development Interventions and Open Learning for Empowering and Transforming Society was held in India on December 16, 2017, to review the progress made on education in the Commonwealth during the last year
The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia Advisory Council held its annual meeting in Sri Lanka on December 11, 2017, whilst the International Conference on Development Interventions and Open Learning for Empowering and Transforming Society was held in India on December 16, 2017, to review the progress made on education in the Commonwealth during the last year.
The Council met at the Open University of Sri Lanka to highlight the priorities of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) and stressed the continued creation of learning opportunities for all citizens of the Commonwealth.
Representatives from the governments of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka led the discussion, with other members from the Asia region also in attendance.
CEMCA Director Dr Shahid Rasool presented the annual report and an update on its education programme, to which members offered suggestions of improvement and progression.
COL President and CEO Professor Asha Kanwar chaired the Council and commended CEMCA’s promotion of cooperation in the use of electronic media resources for distance education.
Professor Kanwar also addressed participants at the conference in Guwahati, India at the Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University.
The focus was on adopting a targeted approach to reach the unreached and ensure education could be accessed by all through online and distance learning.
She gave examples from communities across the Commonwealth that have received increased access to learning through innovative ideas and methods.
In Bangladesh, for example, COL has collaborated with a boat school to fit boats with computers and solar generators for children living in regions prone to flooding.
The President stressed that learners must be at the centre of every education-related activity and encouraged to be active producers of open educational resources.
Finally, an emphasis was placed on lifelong learning, the mobilisation and recruitment of staff, and the development of needs-based courses, which focus on skills-based opportunities relevant to all livelihoods.
