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| EXCELLENCE IN DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMME |
| COL
announces Award winners
CITATIONS |
COL Anniversary Honours: Recognising
institutional achievements
Contact North/Contact Nord,Canada
The Adjudicators recognised an institution which has successfully used awide range of tailored programming, course delivery and support methods to meet theeducational needs of students from diverse cultural, socio-economic and languagebackgrounds in Northern Canada. Supplementation of the local school curriculum andinnovative provision of post secondary access has contributed to youth populationretention in many isolated communities. Trades training for women, teaching andconsultative services for deaf children and their families, and technological trainingprogrammes for network instructors indicate the way in which local and specialist needshave been successfully addressed in a challenging context.
| Mr. Maxim Jean-Louis President and C.E.O. Contact North/Contact Nord c/o Northeast Regional Coordinating Centre 1 - 410 Falconbridge Road Sudbury ON P3A 4S4 Tel: 1-705 560 2710 Fax: 1-705 560-3590 E-mail: maxim@mail.cnorth.edu.on.ca www.cnorth.edu.on.ca |
The National Open School, India
The Adjudicators acknowledge the seminal pioneering role played by theNational Open School in the introduction and development of out of school education inIndia and in the Commonwealth. The sheer size (four hundred thousand students), range (883study centres) and scope of this institutional venture are impressive enough, but when itis recognised that 55% of the enrolments are from women and from other socially andphysically disadvantaged groups, then the NOS’s claim to high achievement in reachingthose who might not otherwise have participated in education and training in India isindisputable.
| Professor Mohan B. Menon Chairman National Open School B-31 B, Kailash Colony New Delhi 110048 INDIA Tel: 91 11 646 4102 Fax: 91 11 621 1453 E-mail: noscm@nda.vsnl.net.in http://www.nos.org |
Mohan Menon (centre) with NOS colleagues |
The Open University of Hong Kong
The Adjudicators recognised an exceptional level of achievement whichhas extended and strengthened over 10 years of rapid growth. Included in this record wasan initial and sustained commitment to serve the needs of thousands who had no access toconventional post school education, a recognition of the special requirements of thedisabled and a determination to introduce the advantages of electronic delivery andsupport systems without penalising those lacking access to them.
| Professor Tam Sheung-wai President The Open University of Hong Kong 30 Good Shepherd Street Ho Man Tin Kowloon HONG KONG S.A.R Tel: 852 2768 6000 Fax: 852 2789 0323 E-mail: swtam@ouhk.edu.hk http://www.ouhk.edu.hk |
COL President’s Awards: Recognising
excellent distance education materials
Indira Gandhi National Open University, India
for the course entitled, Education and Training of Elected Members of
PanchayatsThrough Distance Mode
Recently, through an amendment to the Indian Constitution, over threemillion persons, more than one-third of whom are women, were elected to various tiers oflocal self-government bodies, or panchayats, throughout the country. These personslacked preparedness to take on the tasks required and this was perceived as a majorconstraint in the processes involved in carrying out their responsibilities for socialtransformation. The Indira Gandhi National Open University accepted the challenge toeducate and train these persons through the distance learning mode, and adopted amulti-media approach which is suitable for the target group of rural population which havevaried learning styles and preferences.
The course was viewed by the adjudication committee as a unique course that empowersthrough knowledge by meeting a large and important need in a very appropriate andtimely fashion.
| Professor Abdul W. Khan Vice-Chancellor Indira Gandhi National Open University Maidan Garhi New Delhi, 110 068 INDIA Tel: 91 11 686 2707 (or 685 7084) Fax: 91 11 686 5933 / 2312 (or 696 0863 / 9347) E-mail: ignouvc@del3.vsnl.net.in http://www.ignou.edu |
Adelaide Institute of TAFE, South Australia
for the set of learning materials, Small Business Management
This set of learning materials comprises a certificate programme insmall business management targeted at either existing small business owners and/ormanagers, or those who will require these skills in the future. The materials arepresented in a learner-friendly fashion, using a multi-media approach which includesprint, videos, and on-line delivery.
The committee viewed this submission as a very comprehensive set of distance educationmaterials which is designed to enable small business people to establish and successfullymaintain their own small business enterprises, thereby providing empowerment throughknowledge.
| Ms. Madeleine Woolley Director Adelaide Institute of TAFE GPO Box 1872 Adelaide, SA 5001 AUSTRALIA Tel: 61 8 8 207 8220 Fax: 61 8 8 207 8249 (207 8635) E-mail: madelwoo@tafe.sa.edu.au http://dino.tafe.sa.edu.au/institutes/adelaide |
Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan (left) presents
|
COL Learning Experience Award: Recognisinglearners’ experiences
Ms. Irene Paulsen, Solomon Islands
Ms. Paulsen completed her Masters degree from the Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity in India. She worked entirely from her home in the Solomon Islands, whileraising her family and maintaining her responsibilities as Head of the Distance EducationCentre at Solomon Islands College of Higher Education. She is an example to studentseverywhere, of the opportunities provided by distance education to further one's educationwhile making an effective contribution in one's own society.
| Ms. Irene Paulsen Head Distance Education Centre Solomon Islands College of Higher Education P.O. Box G23 Honiara SOLOMON ISLANDS Tel: 677 30111 Fax: 677 30390 E-mail: decsiche@welkam.solomon.com.sb |
Honorary Fellows of COL: Recognising individual achievements
Professor V.C. Kulandai Swamy, IndiaThere are not many people in the world who walk tall and are at ease both in theworld of literature and engineering. India’s Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) was privileged to have such a man as its second Vice-Chancellor from 1990 to 1994.Professor V.C. Kulandai Swamy is an eminent scientist of immense erudition and capacity toturn scientific principles into practical solutions for global good. The good he did hasto do with water. Hydrology is the engineering field that Professor Kulandai Swamyspecialised in and he contributed to its progress in South Asia. The ‘KulandaiswamyModel’ of Rainfall Runoff studies is still widely acclaimed in engineeringliterature pertaining to water capture, storage, conservation and distribution. Besidesengineering, he is also a well-known and highly respected poet in Tamil, the ancientDravidian language still alive and well in South India. It is this combination of hardnosed engineering discipline and the sensitive feel of the poet that helped him in takingon the difficult task of managing not one but three Indian universities one after theother between 1978 and 1994. Those who are familiar with Indian higher education willappreciate the courage that is needed to accomplish this feat. But succeed he did,especially as the second Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU. Taking on the mantle of a huge, oftenfactious, institution, Professor Kulandai Swamy brought in order, efficiency and, aboveall, respect to one of the world’s biggest universities. Mr. Chairman, for hiscontribution to the development and progress of distance education generally and IGNOUparticularly, I request you to confer upon Professor V.C. Kulandai Swamy theHonorary Fellow of The Commonwealth of Learning award. -G.Dhanarajan
What can one say about someone who, at 85, goes and establishes a school forsocial entrepreneurs in London’s East End after having already received nationalacclaim for setting up the Consumers’ Association and the Which? andthe Where? magazines; the Social Science Research Council; the College ofHealth; the Advisory Centre for Education; International Alert (apressure group concerned with preventing genocide); the National Association for theEducation of Sick Children; the Open College of the Arts; the NationalExtension College; and the originator of an idea called the Open University, along time before it became a reality under Wilson’s Labour Government?
There are many more things one can say about Michael Young, but suffice to saythis man who is reputed to have founded some 49 charities is probably among the greatestof social engineers of our time. He devoted most of his life to achieving social justicefor the poor and the under-privileged, the dispossessed and the disaffected. A doer, aninnovator, an energetic fund raiser for his causes, a passionate and an incomparableeducator, he has done more than many of his time to bring a respect and a purpose for openand distance learning. Mr. Chairman, for his lifetime work in support of open and distancelearning, I invite you to confer the award of Honorary Fellow of The Commonwealth ofLearning on Michael Young (in absentia). -G. Dhanarajan
The late Professor Gaddam Ram Reddy was a firm believer in thedemocratisation of education and did something about it. More than any other Indian inrecent history, Reddy attempted to take post-secondary education to every village andevery Indian. He did not quite get there, but through his tireless efforts, energy andenthusiasm he managed to establish not one but two Open Universities whose combinedenrolments stand around 600,000 students today. Reddy’s contribution goes beyond theestablishing of two Open Universities in India. Through a unique brand of leadership thatmixed political savvy, persuasive intellectual arguments and gentle application of powerhe not only turned political masters around, but also academic sceptics to the cause ofopen learning on the sub-continent. With well over seven open universities, 49 externalstudies units, a number of open schools and technical colleges, in no other country doesDistance Education receive such universal acclaim and government support as in India.
Ram Reddy was a generous man; he had a great sense of humanity. In the fractious Indiaof the nineties, torn by caste, class, race, religious differences, he remained a shiningexample of the India that was – tolerance, humility, gentleness, patience and softspoken advocacy for things sensible, moral and proper. He was a generous man of thoughtand deed. He demonstrated these qualities during a short period of work in managing TheCommonwealth of Learning, both at the executive and governance levels. In his untimelydemise, education generally and distance education in particular lost a great globalleader. Mr. Chairman, I take pride in requesting you to confer posthumously the HonoraryFellow of The Commonwealth of Learning on the late Professor Gaddam Ram Reddy fora lifetime contribution to distance and open learning. -G.Dhanarajan
In Hong Kong, where Professor Don Swift spent the better part of adecade spreading the message of distance and open learning, he was called SEE MANTONG (translated as one divinely appointed to care for the masses). At the time ofhis death in January 1997, Don was actively engaged in providing advice and intellectualsubstance, through the South African Institute of Distance Education, to a new SouthAfrica that was desperately searching for solutions to educational challenges in itsattempts to escape from the trauma, ugliness and evil of a system designed during thedarker days of apartheid.
Donald Swift always welcomed a challenge; he thrived on an overworked adrenaline pump.Challenging, advocating and finding practical solutions to overcome social impediments toeducational opportunities was a passion. He unashamedly exploited all of the assets ofdistance education to the point of transplanting curriculum and courses from onejurisdiction to another. While others were talking about the global portability of OpenLearning products, Don Swift was already doing it in Hong Kong in 1981. I would not beoverstating by saying that, in a large measure, mostly due to his efforts Hong Kong todayhas an immensely successful Open University through which some thousands of individualshave access to post-secondary education and beyond. Mr. Chairman, for his pioneeringefforts in promoting the application of Distance Education to address national needs andfor the global use of distance education products, I invite you to posthumously award to DonaldFrancis Swift, the Honorary Fellow of The Commonwealth of Learning. -G. Dhanarajan
Institutional achievements:
Adelaide Institute of TAFE
GPO Box 1872
Adelaide, SA 5001
AUSTRALIA
http://dino.tafe.sa.edu.au/institutes/adelaide
Ms. Madeleine Woolley, Director
Charles Sturt University
The Grange
Panorama Avenue
Bathurst, NSW 2795
AUSTRALIA
http://www.csu.edu.au
Professor C.D. Blake, Vice-Chancellor
African Medical and Research Foundation
P.O. Box 30125
Nairobi
KENYA
Dr. John Batten, Director General
Distance education materials:
Mauritius College of the Air
for Information Technology in Everyday Life
Mrs. M. Seetulsingh
Director
Distance Education Division
Mauritius College of the Air
5th Floor, A1 Building
Club Road, Vacoas
Reduit
MAURITIUS
Tel: 230 697 5155 / 4230 / 4152 / 3735 / 5234
Fax: 230 697 3577
Grant MacEwan Community College
and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
for the Educational Technology Professional Development Program
Dr. Clayton R. Wright
Coordinator
Instructional Media and Design
Grant MacEwan Community College
7-311H, 10700 – 104 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2
Canada
Tel: 1 780 4
LordYoung
G.Ram Reddy
Don Swift