COL - Commonwealth of Learning

Published purpose

This grant represents Canada’s institutional support to the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). COL uses these funds, along with other donor funding, to achieve its mandate. COL’s mandate is to help governments and institutions expand the scope, scale and quality of learning by using new approaches and technologies for open and distance learning. COL applies open and distance learning to programs in grade schooling, teacher education, higher education, skills development, farming and the development of healthy communities. In the education sector, COL will support countries, institutions and organizations in their development of formal education mechanisms including: open schooling, higher education, virtual university for small states of the Commonwealth, and teacher education. In the skills sector, COL will support institutions and organisations to develop formal and non-formal learning opportunities that focus on: healthy communities, technical and vocational skills development, Lifelong Learning for Farmers, and technology-enabled learning. Canada’s support to COL contributes to finding durable solutions to education challenges and improving the quality of learning in developing countries across the Commonwealth.