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Educate, Equip and Empower the Youth to Embrace the Global Challenges

It is indeed an honour and a great privilege for Indira Gandhi National Open University to co- organise and bring the 6th Pan Commonwealth Forum (PCF6) to India this year in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). The Pan-Commonwealth Forum has grown to become one of the world’s leading conferences on open learning and global development. The principle theme for PCF6 is Access and Success in Learning: Global Development Perspectives. The thematic issues around which thought leaders and scholars from across the Commonwealth countries will deliberate are social justice, community development, skill development and formal education towards achieving success and access in learning. It is indeed an honour to share with you all that we are unleashing the ODL Achievers’ awards by felicitating those extraordinary individuals who have achieved benchmarked success through ODL system.

Education has been an instrument of transformation. The transformation, however, cannot come about without quality, effectiveness, accountability and efficiency. In the Indian context, the challenges of higher education have been dynamic. While on the one hand, the decade is being celebrated as that of the innovation, there is a vast number of students that are still out of the gamut of any form of education pertaining to many social and economic challenges. While the youth today is forced to join the work force and also there is a strong need to combat the economic challenges, there is an equal need to educate, equip and empower them for a better tomorrow and also to prepare them at par with the global requirements. The flexible and innovative characteristics of the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system allow for meeting the requirements of heterogeneous group of learners at low cost. Of 0.5 million students per year, 40 percent of the incremental students’ population at post secondary level, are opting for the open and distance mode.

The year 2009-10 has been celebrated as that of the Silver Jubilee year at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) with a series of lectures, consultations and seminars. The year has also witnessed IGNOU opening up opportunities for the students and professionals to adequately grow in the global context with various new initiatives, courses and Memorandum of Understanding. IGNOU has initiated an exemplary leadership by engaging the academia, industry, various government agencies and international agencies. The objective has been to enhance and build successfully the access of education for the student community through ODL System. The PCF6 is an extension towards the defined objective. I welcome all the distinguished guests and delegates from all across the globe for an invigorated conferencing and sharing at the forum.

I commend and congratulate digital LEARNING magazine for bringing a special issue on PCF6 highlighting the historical contexts of the event, delineating on the various themes of PCF6 at such an opportune time. While I appreciate the efforts of the editorial team of the magazine for their pursuit in drawing a detailed account of the PCF6 Special, I also wish them good luck for their future initiatives.

foreword

Prof VN rajasekharaN PillaiVice Chancellor, indira Gandhi National open University