Commonwealth of Learning

🌍 On World Environment Day, we’re revisiting an important conversation on building climate-ready green skills for women and girls.

COL’s Empowering Women & Girls project recently hosted a webinar on green skills, climate adaptation, and resilience, sharing real-world case studies and training initiatives that help expand economic opportunities and support more inclusive, climate-ready futures.

Watch the recording to explore how green skills can shape more sustainable futures: https://youtu.be/1ZQ0pdrHb98?si=MhznlQ8BpFHKDZrW

COL4D's Empowering Women & Girls Canada’s International Development – Global Affairs Canada

Happy Emancipation Day, Tonga!

With a strong focus on data resilience and open schooling for skills development, Tonga is committed to future-proofing its education system and making learning more accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of all learners.

Since establishing an open university in 2021, Tonga has continued to expand its Open TVET initiatives, equipping young people with skills for employment, entrepreneurship, and leadership; supporting women’s empowerment through skills development and capacity-building; and strengthening community resilience to climate-related challenges.

With support from COL, Tonga National University has strengthened its capacity for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning (ODFL), strengthening internal capacities to advance blended learning, micro-credentials, and the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). The university is also working with regional partners to expand access for women, persons with disabilities, and learners in remote communities.

We celebrate Tonga’s achievements and its leadership in advancing inclusive, resilient, and future-ready learning across the Pacific region.

Ministry of Education and Training Tonga Montfort Technical Institute-Tonga Tonga National University - 'Univesiti Fakafonua 'a Tonga Tonga Women in ICT - TWICT The University of the South Pacific - Tonga Campus

Addressing COL’s Board recently, The Honourable Shirley Botchwey, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, reflected on the global challenges facing Commonwealth countries. Facing geopolitical fragmentation, climate disruption, debt distress, and other complex realities, she called for stronger co-ordination among the Commonwealth sister organisations to jointly support the Commonwealth’s 2.7 billion citizens.

“Education is central to how countries build resilience,” she said.

By strategically and collaboratively leveraging our distinct mandates, the Commonwealth Family can listen, plan, and mobilise together in support of resilience and shared prosperity across the 56 Member States.

The Commonwealth Commonwealth Foundation
Photo credit: Commonwealth Secretariat

A strong foundation in mathematics can unlock opportunities for further education, open doors to STEAM careers, and equip learners with essential problem-solving and life skills. Across the Caribbean, however, ongoing challenges in mathematics achievement continue to limit opportunities for many students.

Through the Advancing Caribbean Teachers in Mathematics initiative, COL, through its VUSSC network, is working with Caribbean small states to strengthen mathematics teaching through practical professional development, innovative classroom strategies, and regional communities of practice.

Learn more: https://www.col.org/news/turning-struggle-to-strength-mathematics-in-the-digital-age/

Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) Ministry of Education, HR Planning, Vocational Training & Nat'l Excellence GIS Dominica Barbados Government Information Service Ministry of Education Grenada Department of Education-Nevis Saint Lucia Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation SVG Education Media Unit The University of the West Indies, Mona Caribbean Examinations Council

The future of teacher education isn't just about access to content. It's about agency.

Who creates knowledge? Whose contexts shape what is taught? And how do teacher educators move from being consumers of content to co-creators of knowledge?

In our latest reflections article, Dr Betty Obura Ogange, Education Specialist: Teacher Education, COL, shares insights from the recent regional workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, that explored how OER and AI can support more collaborative, locally grounded approaches to teacher education.

"While AI can accelerate the speed of content creation, it cannot guarantee educational value. Teacher educators still need to determine whether resources are accurate, inclusive, curriculum-aligned, culturally relevant, and pedagogically sound."

Get the full story: https://www.col.org/news/from-access-to-agency-building-a-network-towards-open-teacher-education-in-sub-saharan-africa/

DHET Wits - University of the Witwatersrand

Happy 64th Independence Day, Samoa!

Through COL’s Partnership for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning in the Pacific and its active engagement in the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) network, Samoa has strengthened its capacity to harness technology for learning and expand access to quality education and skills training. In recent years, the Ministry of Education and Culture has equipped STEM teachers with the skills to create and adapt curriculum-aligned resources using AI tools and the COL OER Generator; Samoan ministry officials have received training on policy planning initiatives for ODL; and the National University of Samoa (NUS) has been positioned as a regional leader in TEL in the Pacific.

At the same time, Samoa has continued to advance its commitment to equity through gender and youth empowerment initiatives. Following a series of gender mainstreaming sessions and with COL support, NUS developed its first Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion Policy in 2025.

Efforts to strengthen youth employability have supported young people through skills development and practical training opportunities. The She Builds programme, delivered in partnership with Brown Girl Woke, has also empowered young women through vocational training, leadership development, and human rights education.

Together, these initiatives reflect Samoa’s dedication to ensuring that education and skills development serve as pathways to opportunity, inclusion, and sustainable national development.

Ministry of Education and Culture The National University of Samoa Samoa Qualifications Authority - SQA USP, Alafua Campus Brown Girl Woke

Leveraging Open Educational Resources (OER) to their full potential means giving teachers the skills to adapt and co-create openly licensed materials that respond to local contexts and diverse learner needs.

With support from COL, 25 teacher-leaders from the Ministry of Education, Sports and Creative Industries, Antigua and Barbuda, participated in a capacity-building session, empowering them to become future champions of OER within their schools and communities.

Participants explored principles of open education and Creative Commons licensing while also gaining practical competencies in searching OER repositories, applying evaluation frameworks, and navigating metadata.

🔗 Read more: https://www.col.org/news/teacher-leaders-in-antigua-and-barbuda-build-capacity-in-open-educational-resources/

Ministry of Education - Education Broadcasting Unit

Sri Lanka is advancing the development of a National Micro-credentials Framework through a collaborative process led by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Sri Lanka, with support from COL.

Building on a national baseline study and extensive stakeholder consultations, a recent two-day framework development session brought together regulators, academic leaders and training-sector representatives to explore key issues, including credit alignment, stackability, recognition of prior learning, quality assurance, digital registries, local-language provision, and employer recognition.

We extend our sincere thanks to The Honourable Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Sri Lanka, and COL Board Member, for her thoughtful engagement and leadership. Her active participation reflected a strong commitment to the country's ongoing education reforms and reinforced the important role that micro-credentials can play in strengthening lifelong learning, enhancing employability, and creating more flexible learning pathways.

Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka

The International Conference on Education, Technology and Policy 2027 (ICETP27) has opened its Call for Abstracts for its virtual conference on 8–9 June 2027.

Under the theme “Learning innovation and teaching practice in the age of AI,” the conference will bring together academics, researchers, educators, policymakers, doctoral candidates and practitioners to explore the future of AI, digital learning, inclusion, quality assurance and sustainable development in education.

📌 Learn more about the conference: https://sites.google.com/uom.ac.mu/icetp27/
📥 Submit your abstract by 26 October 2026: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/auth?redirect=/stages/82650/submitter

ICETP27 is organised by the University of Mauritius through the COL/UNESCO Chair in Inclusive Educational Technologies, in collaboration with the Mauritius Institute of Education through the UNESCO Chair in Higher Education, and with support from UNESCO and COL.

University of Mauritius Mauritius Institute of Education UNESCO