 Hello, Abdulrahman Umar, the education specialist for teacher development in the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver, Canada. And I would like to talk to you about the Commonwealth of Learning's Teacher Education Initiative. Teacher development is one of the important areas of concern for the Commonwealth of Learning because we recognize the importance of teachers in the educational process. Particularly the key role they play in facilitating the attainment of education for all. I will begin by highlighting the challenges faced by the Commonwealth of Developing Countries in terms of teacher supply and teacher quality. And then briefly state how the Commonwealth of Learning assists these countries to address the challenges. These challenges include the following. The first challenge is that none of these countries has attained full universal primary education. The net enrollment ratio ranges from 60% to 90%. For example, India's net enrollment ratio is 89%, South Africa is 87%, Nigeria is 68%, Pakistan is 68%, and so on. These figures indicate that there are millions of children who need to be provided access to basic education and for whom teachers have to be trained and recruited. Secondly, there are serious shortfalls in teacher supply and the shortfalls need to be addressed if universal primary education is to be attained by 2015. The projected required increase in the stock of teachers for sub-Saharan Africa is from 2.4 million in 2004 to 4 million in 2015, an increase of about 68%. The corresponding figure for South and West Asia is 4,747,100, representing an increase of 7%. The existing conventional teacher training institutions lack the capacity to address these shortfalls in teacher supply, prompting the need to harness the potentials of open and distance learning for teacher education. Thirdly, a significant proportion of teachers in many Commonwealth developing countries are untrained or unqualified. For example, only 37% of teachers in Uganda are trained or qualified, 58% in Gambia, 56% in Ghana, and only 54% in Nigeria. Open and distance learning strategies can and should be used to upgrade these teachers on the job without taking them away from their schools and with no disruption to their duties as full-time teachers. Fourthly, in almost all of these countries, there are very few, if any, opportunities for continuing professional development for primary and secondary school teachers. Given the dynamic nature of knowledge and skills and the changing learning needs of children in primary and secondary schools, this has had a negative effect on teachers' performance and effectiveness. In many countries, a clear policy on in-service training is yet to be articulated. The challenges posed by shortfalls in teacher supply and low teacher quality, which I have highlighted, suggest the need for more intervention by the Commonwealth of Learning to assist these countries to build the capacity of their teacher training systems. Specifically, the Commonwealth of Learning will in the next few years advocate the use of open and distance learning in teacher education by supporting policies for professional development. Secondly, the Commonwealth of Learning will work with teacher education institutions to ensure the design and delivery of quality teacher education programs. We will also promote the development of pedagogical content knowledge and skills among open and distance learning practitioners in Commonwealth developing countries. The Commonwealth of Learning will also support conventional teacher education institutions to make the transition from single-mode to dual-mode institutions. We will also facilitate the development and utilization of open education resources so as to enhance quality of learning in the schools. And finally, we intend to develop the capacity of teachers to implement the child-friendly schools' models and approaches, again so as to promote the quality of learning in the schools. We shall work very closely with governments, teacher training institutions, and relevant national and international agencies to develop appropriate policies, improve teacher supply and the quality and performance of teachers, thereby facilitate the attainment of education for all and millennium development goals. Thank you.