How can universities make education more accessible to everyone regardless of age, income, gender, physical ability or even location?
This challenge brought together top schools across Asia together in Manila from Oct. 22 to 24, as the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) hosted the 39th Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities.
Some 200 university administrators, researchers, educators and distance learning advocates gathered to explore how cooperation could bring quality higher education within reach of more people across Asia.
The three-day conference marked PUP’s first hosting of the annual gathering, a milestone for a Philippine pioneer whose Pamantasang Bayan developed into today’s PUP Open University System.
For PUP president Manuel Muhi, the mission of open education begins with understanding the lives of the people it serves.
“Our history reminds us that Open, Distance and e-Learning or ODeL is not merely about technology. It is about people. It is about giving someone an opportunity,” Muhi said. “The true measure of an open university is not simply how advanced its technology is. The true measure is how many lives it is able to transform.”
That belief connects today’s digital classrooms to an educational movement that took shape long before the internet: bringing university learning to people who could not come to campus.
A defining moment came in 1969, when The Open University in the United Kingdom received its Royal Charter. Envisioned as a “University of the Air,” it welcomed its first students in 1971, combining distance teaching with BBC broadcasts to bring higher education into people’s homes.
Across Asia, institutions developed their own responses to the same need. Korea National Open University was founded in 1972, initially offering two-year college courses. Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal Open University followed in 1974 to serve learners unable to leave their homes and jobs.
Each addressed a persistent gap – the conventional campus could not accommodate everyone who wanted to learn.
As these institutions grew, so did the need to learn from one another. Discussions among open university leaders in Thailand in 1986 helped pave the way for the AAOU, whose inaugural meeting and research conference followed in 1987.
In the Philippines, PUP formally established its Open University in 1990, becoming the first of its kind in the country. Known as the Pamantasang Bayan, it developed into the PUP Open University System, offering flexible, accessible and affordable education to working professionals, underserved communities and Filipinos at home and abroad.
That history gave particular meaning to its hosting of the 2026 conference. More than three decades after opening another pathway for Filipino learners, PUP welcomed international counterparts confronting similar barriers.
Delegates came from 16 countries. Under the theme “Responding to Global Challenges Towards a Resilient and Future-Ready Open and Distance Education,” participants exchanged research and explored partnerships to help universities respond to technological change, climate disruptions and evolving learner needs.
Discussions covered cross-border credit transfers, joint studies through the AAOU Collaborative Research Program and expanded faculty mobility fellowships.
For students, such cooperation could create more connected pathways toward a degree. And for educators, it offers opportunities to improve teaching, investigate shared problems and adapt approaches tested in other countries.
Conference sessions also examined ethical frameworks for generative artificial intelligence, stackable micro-credentials and low-bandwidth learning platforms that could help students continue studying despite unreliable internet connections or natural hazards.
The tools have changed considerably since the early days. Yet the underlying question has endured: how can universities reach people whose circumstances might otherwise shut them out?
For PUP Open University System executive director Rudolf Anthony Lacerna, opening the door is only the beginning.
“One message stands out. And that is open and distance e-learning must go beyond access to deliver quality, inclusion, innovation and meaningful learning for all,” he said.
For someone studying after a work shift or between family duties, that commitment has practical meaning. Flexible schedules must be supported by accessible lessons, timely guidance and help when difficulties arise.
The conference’s emphasis on resilience also reflected the challenges of organizing the gathering itself. Muhi recalled torrential rains, localized flooding, connectivity problems and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that complicated preparations.
Among the leaders who attended the conference was Congressman Jude Acidre, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, who underscored open universities’ inclusive mission. “Open and distance learning recognizes that people have the right to learn regardless of where they live or the responsibilities they carry,” he said.
Dr. Yusuf Adiguzel, rector of the Anadolou University in Turkey that caters to some 1.5 million students, said open universities provide adult learners a way to reinvent themselves and adapt to the changing times. “Education changes lives. And education has no age limit,” he said.
The challenge is to turn that principle into opportunities people can use. Partnerships, research and new technologies will matter most when they help learners enter university, stay in school and complete their degrees amid the demands of daily life.
For a working parent, an overseas worker or an adult returning to an unfinished degree, the promise is deeply personal: a chance to move forward without putting the rest of life on hold.
As Muhi told the gathering: “We can choose to see distance as a barrier. Or, as open universities have demonstrated for decades, we can transform distance into an opportunity.”