COL promotes the development of leadership and ODL expertise in the field through regional centres. The activities of these centres contribute to the achievement of COL’s programme outcomes and foster regional cooperation.

In partnership with the regional centres, COL:

• Develops regional and national gender-responsive policies in ODL and flexible and blended learning.
• Supports research and innovations to advance access to quality education and skills training.

RETRIDOL

The Regional Training and Research Institute for Distance and Open Learning (RETRIDOL) is hosted by the National Open University of Nigeria to promote the use of ODL and technologies for increasing access to equitable quality education and training in West Africa.

3CL

Established by the Government of Malta, the Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning (3CL) has been advancing innovations through open access, AI, blockchain and technology-mediated solutions.

PACFOLD

Hosted and managed by the University of the South Pacific, Fiji, the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD) aims to empower communities in the region through flexible learning approaches.

SADC-CDE

Hosted by the Botswana Open University, the Southern African Development Community Centre for Distance Education (SADC-CDE) supports ODL capacity building in the sub-region.