From: col@unixg.ubc.ca (The Commonwealth of Learning)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: The Commonwealth of Learning
Date: 17 Dec 1992 03:38:20 GMT
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: unixg.ubc.ca

There are a number of African countries in the Commonwealth.  This may 
be of interest to the soc.culture.african readers.

_________________________________________________________________
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has established a mail distribution
list at the request of educators across the Commonwealth and worldwide.

The Commonwealth consists of fifty sovereign countries.  

The purpose of the list will be to:

1) Make educators aware of COL and its role in Distance 
Education with the fifty countries in the Commonwealth.

2) To facilitate the transfer of information across the Commonwealth.  

3) To help COL receive feedback and expertise from educators.

TO SUBSCRIBE TO COLNEWS SEND YOUR FULL NAME IN THE 
AN E-MAIL MESSAGE TO:

colnews-request@unixg.ubc.ca

ONCE SUBSCRIBED ALL MESSAGES, QUESTIONS, ETC, 
SHOULD BE SENT TO:

col@unixg.ubc.ca
__________________________________________________
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING (COL)

		At their meeting in Vancouver in October 1987, 
		Commonwealth Heads of Government accepted the 
		report of an expert group chaired by Lord Briggs 
		of Lewes and agreed to create a new Commonwealth 
		institution to promote cooperation in distance 
		education.  The Commonwealth of Learning was 
		formally established by means of a 'Memorandum of 
		Understanding' between Governments in September 
		1988.

		The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) was launched 
		with pledged funds from Commonwealth Governments 
		amounting to some 15 million pounds sterling for 
		its first five years.  It is based in Vancouver, 
		Canada, under a Headquarters Agreement with the 
		Government of Canada which recognises the Agency 
		as an independent, autonomous international 	
		organisation.  It is governed by a 17 member Board 
		which is representative of all parts of the 	
		Commonwealth.

MANDATE AND PRINCIPLES

		According to the Memorandum of Understanding, the 
		purpose of the Agency is to create and widen 
		opportunities for learning by promoting 	
		cooperation between universities, colleges and 
		other educational institutions throughout the 
		Commonwealth, making use of the potential offered 
		by distance education and by the application of 
		communications technologies to education.  The 
		Agency's activities are aimed at strengthening 
		member countries' capacity to develop the human 
		resources required for their economic and social 
		development, and give priority to those 	
		developmental needs to which Commonwealth 	
		cooperation can be applied.

THE PRIORITIES AND OBJECTIVES OF COL:

		On the basis of consultations with representatives 
		of Governments, heads and staff of educational 
		institutions, the personnel of cognate 		
		institutions and agencies in the various parts of 
		the Commonwealth, the following functions have 
		been assigned priority for the plan period:

		*	Assisting the acquisition and delivery of 
			teaching/learning materials and more 	
			generally facilitating access to them.

		*	Strengthening institutional capacity in the 
			delivery of distance education through the 
			effective use of telecommunications 	
			technology and educational technology.

		*	Undertaking and supporting training of 	
			personnel in the techniques and management of 
			distance education.

		*	Providing information on any aspect of 	
			distance education, including the selection 
			of appropriate technology.

		*	Developing a programme for the continuing 
			education and training of Commonwealth 	
			professionals and para-professionals.

		*	Ensuring that the full range of COL's 	
			programmes contributes substantively to the 
			realisation of the full potential of women as 
			agents and beneficiaries of the development 
			process.
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The maintenance of the listserver will be by David Walker of COL 
(dwalker@unixg.ubc.ca).

The Commonwealth of Learning would like to thank personnel in 
Computing Services, University of British Columbia, in 
facilitating the creation of the list.
-- 

The Commonwealth of Learning
#1700-777 Dunsmuir Street, Box #10428,
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada  V7Y 1K4