There are eight Commonwealth member states in Asia, five in South Asia and three in South-East Asia. More than 70 per cent of the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens live in South Asia. Six Asian members are republics and two – Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia – are monarchies. In two of the republics, Maldives and Sri Lanka, the president is the head of government, and in four, the prime minister assumes that role.
There are eight Commonwealth member states in Asia, five of which are in South Asia and three in South-East Asia. More than 70 per cent of the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens live in South Asia. Six Asian members are republics and two – Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia – are monarchies. In two of the republics, Maldives and Sri Lanka, the president is the head of government, and in four, the prime minister assumes this role.
Many of the Commonwealth’s premier education organisations work within Asia, offering a diverse spectrum of services and public forums for education. This is reflected in the high degree of membership to organisations such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), of which there are over 255 member universities from Asia. This demonstrates the desire of Asian universities to make themselves known on the world stage, in order to complement their emerging economies. Others include the continent-specific Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, which is based in India and promotes the appropriate use of IT and ICT to serve the educational and training needs of Commonwealth member states in Asia; and The Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS), which has branches in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India, and co-ordinates the study of literature within the Commonwealth.
To date, there have been four Conferences of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) held in Asia. These have included New Delhi, India; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Asian countries also contribute to the Commonwealth Scholarship scheme with five countries (India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Brunei) offering scholarships primarily at graduate and postgraduate levels.
The Commonwealth of Learning’s Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF) has been hosted twice by Asian countries, both in Brunei Darussalam and India. The CCL focuses its work in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
There is a diverse range of exam systems and key stages throughout the Asian members of the Commonwealth, reflecting the expansive and wide-ranging nature of the continent.
Regional education statistics
Adult literacy rates |
Ratio of Males to Females in Tertiary education |
Youth Literacy rates |
Proportion of children starting Grade 1 |
Net enrolment of primary education |
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