The Commonwealth of Nations or The Commonwealth was formed in 1949 in London after a Commonwealth Prime Ministers Meeting under declaration known as London Declaration. The Commonwealth consists of 54 nations, including Papua New Guinea which has were historically governed or colonised by British and later they become Independent Nations. It also includes territories that are still governed by UK. Non-UK colonies that joined the Commonwealth Rwanda in 2009 and Mozambique. Historically, the organization was for countries that were under the British Empire but now any nation can join the Commonwealth.
Following the London Declaration that established it, the Commonwealth Secretariat was formed in 1965 as the central intergovernmental organization to manage the Commonwealth nations work.
Three key organizations within the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth consists of three (3) key intergovernmental organizations. These are as follows:
The Commonwealth is often described as a ‘family’ of nations. At the heart of this family are three intergovernmental organisations:
1: The Commonwealth Secretariat
supports member countries to achieve the Commonwealth’s aims.
2: The Commonwealth Foundation
supports people’s participation in democracy and development.
3: The Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
promotes open learning and distance education.
Commonwealth of Learning Skills for Work Scholarship
As the lead organization for promoting open learning and distance learning within the Commonwealth countries, it has launched the Commonwealth Learning Skills for Work Scholarship in partnership with the following online learning platforms or organizations.
- Udemy
- Coursera
The Scholarship.
Skills for Work, an initiative of Commonwealth of Learning (COL), aims to support the efforts of Commonwealth Member States to disseminate skills required for decent employment and entrepreneurship and pave the way for skilling, reskilling, upskilling and lifelong learning
Skills for Work takes a two-pronged approach:
- Through hybrid models that apply open and distance learning techniques, it helps women, girls, youth, people with disabilities, entrepreneurs, and the unemployed at the community level to acquire relevant 21st Century, life and essential skills, and access in-country mentorship support.
- Through varied partnership models, it enhances ODL capabilities of both TVET institutions and other non-governmental organisations involved in skill development to share and adapt open educational resources; develop capacity in blended teaching/learning practices; scale up outreach efforts; and, respond to the market needs.
Skills for Work believes that the success and the growth of private eLearning providers in both the developed world and in emerging economies contributes to closing the education and skills gap. The model of low-cost, highly convenient, accessible and self-paced, flexible self-learning is a direct answer to the needs of unemployed youth, workers in the informal economy and people with mobility challenges.
How to Apply for the Scholarship
For full information about the Scholarship, visit the website: https://col-skillsforwork.org/
Go direct to fill in the Online Form for PNG Applicants.
The partner institution in PNG is the PNG FODE Office
