Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Perth, Australia, Pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, 26 October 2011, Learning for Development, Presentation by Sir John Daniel President & C.E.O. Commonwealth of Learning, Introduced by The Honourable Burchell Whiteman, O.J. Chair, COL Board of Governors // I am most grateful to our distinguished Board Chair, the Honourable Burchell Whiteman, for his generous introduction to this short summary of the work of the Commonwealth of Learning. // COL is extremely fortunate to have Burchell Whiteman as its Board Chair because COL’s work is a blend of educational development and international relations. Burchell Whiteman served for many years as Minister of Education in Jamaica and later as its High Commissioner in London. He is, therefore, thoroughly familiar with both learning imperatives and Commonwealth diplomacy. // Heads of Government created the Commonwealth of Learning 12 CHOGMs ago when they met in Vancouver in 1987. They did so from the belief that countries could use help in using information and communications technologies to advance education, training and learning at all levels and in diverse circumstances. That is COL’s mission.