The Commonwealth of Literacy: Literacy, Distance Education and Refugees

Abstract

Flora MacDonald was the guest speaker at a seminar organized by the Centre for Refugee Studies on October 22, 1990 at McLaughlin College, York University. Canada's former Minister of Employment and Immigration and of External Affairs is now a coordinator with the Commonwealth of Learning, an autonomous institution created by the Commonwealth of Nations in 1987. Her personal interest in refugees and education has been integrated in her current project, which is to coordinate the setup of distance education, literacy and literacy training programs for refugees in southern Africa. The seminar brought together experts in fields ranging from distance education, literacy, literacy training, refugees to international development. The seminar was designed with the intention of giving initial feedback to the Commonwealth of Learning's plan to set up programs for refugees in Southern Africa as well as to set up an informaI network of experts to assist in the general direction of the Centre's project.