Secretariat and Commonwealth of Learning sign historic document

The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) have strengthened a 20-year history of informal co-operation on education, by officially joining forces in a historic meeting in Canada.

In a collaborative memorandum signed on 29 July 2009 in Vancouver, the two organisations formally agreed to work together to improve their education support to member countries.

Dr Caroline Pontefract, Director of the Social Transformation Programmes Division at the Secretariat, who signed the agreement with Vice-President of the COL, Professor Asha Kanwar, said: “This signing makes the collaborative work of the two organisations more tangible. It reflects the mandate of education ministers at the 16th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Cape Town in 2006, where COL and the Secretariat were encouraged to work more closely together.

“It also reflects the ongoing dialogue between our two organisations, but very much moves this forward into the identification of tangible areas for joint action.”

Some of the planned initiatives include:

- Courses for teachers working in post-conflict countries including Sri Lanka.

- Developing materials for short open distance learning (ODL) courses on multi-grade teaching, to help teachers and policy-makers understand the different strategies needed to teach children of varied ages and abilities in the same class. The materials will be piloted in at least three countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

- Joint research in key areas, such as the impact of the feminisation of the teaching profession: does an increase in female teachers impact positively or less positively on school pupils, particularly boys, and on the status of the profession?

- Networking of ministries and national institutions to manage the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth, which works with partner institutions to produce and deliver relevant courses using e-learning strategies.

- Helping local organisations, NGOs and local public institutions improve the health and well-being of their communities, including maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and nutrition.

- Looking at how teachers and schools could better address climate change.

- Determining key areas of collaboration, including the education of children and teachers without discrimination, following the ‘Civil Paths to Peace’ report.

This report was written by the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding, chaired by the Nobel laureate Professor Amartya Sen, after Heads of Government requested the Secretary-General “to explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the Commonwealth”. This report, which was endorsed by Heads of Government in 2007, identified four priority areas for action: young people, women, the media, and education.

The Secretariat and COL have committed to review their collaborative work annually and to continue to build and strengthen their links with Commonwealth associations and intergovernmental organisations active in education, including the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth Consortium for Education, the Commonwealth Education Fund, the Commonwealth Education Trust and the Royal Commonwealth Society.

A two-day workshop with representatives from UNICEF, UNESCO, Hewlett Foundation, the UK Open University and the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa was also held at COL’s headquarters in Vancouver. Here, discussions centred on broader collaboration in the specific area of teacher education and identifying the strengths of each organisation to ensure their joint work complements each other.

Dr Pontefract highlighted the importance of these discussions and that the outcomes “not only serve to strengthen collaboration but should ensure alignment with larger initiatives and frameworks, with regard to teacher education.” It was agreed that the outcome of the meeting would be given to the global task force on teachers for Education for All, which specialises in providing educational resources to schools and educational projects in developing countries.

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