Professor Asha Kanwar, President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) addressed the graduates of the Open University of Sri Lanka as she received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D. Lit.) Honoris Causa, on 17 May 2016.

“It is because of your motivation, discipline and commitment that you are sitting here today to receive your hard-won qualifications,” Professor Kanwar told the graduates. Reflecting on her own time as a distance learner, Professor Kanwar said that “distance education provided me with an opportunity I would otherwise not have had.”

The degree, which was presented at the university convocation held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, honored Professor Kanwar’s contributions to the field of distance education, both regionally and internationally.

She told the new graduates that learning doesn’t stop upon graduation: “If you enter the world of work, you will still need to continue to learn, unlearn and re-learn many different things during the course of your life. In short you need to be lifelong learners if you wish to succeed.”

COL is working with Sri Lanka on a range of initiatives including teacher education, higher education, rural community development and professional development. Further, COL supported the development of a draft policy on Open and Distance Learning for Sri Lanka which will create an enabling environment for distance and online learning to flourish and for more citizens to access quality higher education at affordable costs.

About the Commonwealth of Learning

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to promote the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. Hosted by the Government of Canada and headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is the world’s only intergovernmental organisation solely concerned with the promotion and development of distance education and open learning. COL is helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.

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