Plenary Hall, KLCC, 27 November 2016 : The Eighth Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF8) kicked off with the inaugural session that featured four high-calibre speakers from both OUM and COL.
OUM President/Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dato' Dr Mansor Fadzil set the ball rolling with a warm welcome to all participants followed by COL Chair of the Board of Governors, Dr Linda Sissons, who spoke on behalf of the United Nations body.
Next to speak was Prof Asha Kanwar, the current President of COL, who said that learning would lead to economic growth, social inclusion and environmental conservation. She also informed of the impending major output of the Forum - the KL Declaration.
Former president & CEO of COL, Tan Sri Emeritus Prof Dr Gajaraj Dhanarajan provided reflections on PCF8, who acknowledged that Malaysia has come a long way in promoting open and distance education. He touched on openness towards higher education within the Commonwealth and the need to embrace change so that more people could engage in open education and improve their lives.