COL’s First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) was held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam from 1-5 March 1999, in partnership with the Brunei Darussalam Ministry of Education and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. The forum attracted 300 international and 100 local delegates to celebrate COL’s tenth anniversary.
A summary of PCF1 appears in the May 1999 edition of COL’s newsletter, Connections.
Theme
Empowerment through Knowledge and Technology: A Celebration of Ten Years of The Commonwealth of Learning
Presenters
Asa Briggs Lecture
Professor Wang Gungwu, Director, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore
Keynote Speakers
His Excellency Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Commonwealth Secretary-General
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture, Barbados
The Right Honourable Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, UK
The Honourable Maurice Strong, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General and Chairman, Earth Council
Mr Noah A. Samara, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, WorldSpace Corporation
Honorary Fellows
- Professor V.C. Kulandai Swamy
- Lord Young of Dartington
- National Extension College
- Professor G. Ram Reddy (posthumous)
- Professor Donald F. Swift (posthumous)
Winners of the Excellence in Distance Education Awards (1998-1999)
Award of Excellence for Institutional Achievement
- Contact North /Contact Nord, Canada
- National Open School, India
- The Open University of Hong Kong
- Certificates of Merit: Adelaide Institute of TAFE, Australia; Charles Sturt University, Australia; and African Medical and Research Foundation, Kenya
Award of Excellence for Open and Distance Education Materials
- Indira Gandhi National Open University, India
- Adelaide Institute of TAFE, South Australia
- Certificates of Merit: Grant MacEwan Community College, Alberta, Canada; and Mauritius College of the Air, Mauritius
Award Recognising Distance Learning Experience
- Ms Irene Paulsen, Solomon Islands
Forum Partners
- Canadian International Development Agency
- Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
- New Zealand’s Official Development Assistance (NZODA)
- British Council
- Caribbean Development Bank
- Malaysia Airlines – official carrier for the Forum