[1][2] Working collaboratively with governmental and non-governmental organizations and other institutions in the Commonwealth, as well as with international development agencies, COL has the mandate to promote the use of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.
[3][4] The Board of Governors is chaired by His Excellency Danny Faure, former President of the Republic of Seychelles COL was founded at the 1987 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and inaugurated in 1988.
In 2024, Professor Peter Scott was appointed the president and chief executive officer of COL.[7] In 2015, COL created a six-year strategic plan to align itself with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG4, which work to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030.
The resulting Calgary Communique proposed to significantly accelerate progress towards the aim and targets of the SDGs in general and SDG4 in particular to innovate for more resilient education systems and address climate change challenges by prioritising collective actions.
COL also receives additional contributions from other development sources and provides fee-for-service distance education and open learning course delivery and training for various international agencies.