Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), attended the High-Level Roundtable for Vice Chancellors and Senior Officials Forum. The forum was organized and facilitated by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and the Asia e-University (AeU). It was held at the Parkroyal Penang Resort in Penang, Malaysia on 29-30 July 2022.
The High-Level Roundtable for Vice Chancellors and Senior Officials Forum provided a venue to discuss how different institutions responded to the pandemic, the innovations they implemented, and the way forward to build back better.
Sessions for the RTD included topics on innovations during COVID-19, the role of universities in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and education technology for Quality Education.
The event also included the launching of the ICDE-Global Advocacy Campaign (GAC) in Asia for Open Flexible Distance Learning (OFDL). Dr. Bandalaria shared on Facebook account a photo with Ms. Torunn Gjelsvik, ICDE Secretary General; Prof. Dato Dr. Ansary Ahmed, Asia eUniversity President; and Asha Kanwar, President of the Commonwealth of Learning. She also mentioned that Prof. Dr. Lily Chan of Wawasan Open University was also present at the launch.
Dr. Bandalaria’s participation in the forum also provided an opportunity for her to meet with the senior officials of one of UP’s partner universities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, to further discuss the various activities of the university that have been lined up for the year.
Written by Pinky Halos and Anna Cañas-Llamas
Edited by Myra C. Almodiel and Anna Cañas-Llamas
Sources: COL’s Official Invitation Letters and Dr. Bandalaria’s Facebook account