Secretary-General Appoints Commission on Commonwealth Studies
15 June 1995
The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, today named a nine-member Commission of senior academics and education professionals to report on the state of Commonwealth studies at universities and colleges in the association's 51 member countries. The Commission will also consider ways of enhancing and strengthening opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to pursue Commonwealth studies.
The Commission is headed by Professor Thomas Symons, a senior Canadian academic and founding President of Trent University in Ontario. Prof Symons, the University's Vanier Professor, is a former Chairman and Treasurer of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and one of Canada's pioneering scholars in the field of Canadian studies. He was also founding Chairman of the Canadian Educational Standards Institute and currently holds the chairmanship of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
"The dearth of opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students to follow courses with a Commonwealth focus, as well as concerns about the limited amount of research being carried out on Commonwealth studies, prompted me to establish this Commission," the Secretary-General said. It is expected to meet in Britain in late August.
Other members of the Commission are: Prof Suma Chitnis, Vice-Chancellor of SNDT Women's University Bombay; Dr Gajaraj Dhanarajan, the Malaysian Director of the Open Learning Institute in Hong Kong and President-elect of the Commonwealth of Learning; Prof Peter Katjavivi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia; Mr Donald Markwell, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford; Dr Deryck Schreuder, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney; Dr B Persuad of the Centre of Environment and Development, University of the West Indies, and Mrs Esi Sutherland-Addy, Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana. Mr Peter Williams, former Director of Education at the Commonwealth Secretariat, will act as Secretary. In addition, a group of distinguished experts will constitute an Advisory Panel which will assist the Commission's work.
Initial funding for the Commission's work has been provided through donations from a number of trusts and foundations in the Commonwealth.
Information and proposals which could help the Commission in its deliberations are invited from all interested persons to be submitted no later than 20 August 1995. Material should be sent to Peter Williams, Secretary, Commission on Commonwealth Studies, c/o Education Department, Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5HX. Fax: (+44) 171 747 6287.
95/23 15 June 1995
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