The Commonwealth of Learning – Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (COL-CEMCA) launched the Malaysia, Maldives, Bangladesh, and Singapore National Cohorts of the Commonwealth Student Community for AI Governance through a virtual Asia Regional Cohort Launch meet-up held on 17 August 2026.

The event brought together students from across the four countries, marking the beginning of their participation in a wider Commonwealth network of national student communities engaging with responsible AI and AI governance.

Opening the session, Dr. B. Shadrach, Director, COL-CEMCA, placed the launch within the broader expansion of the initiative across the Commonwealth. He highlighted that while the four countries face different AI priorities and policy contexts, students have an important role to play in responding to issues relevant to their own national settings. He encouraged participants to move from being users of AI to becoming contributors and co-creators, engaging with national initiatives, research, innovation, policy and multidisciplinary discussions on the future of AI.

The session was joined by Prof. Dr. Azidah binti Abu Ziden, Director, Academic Excellence Division, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, who welcomed the initiative as a platform that gives students not merely a place in the discussion, but a meaningful voice in shaping how AI is developed, governed and used. Drawing attention to Malaysia’s efforts in AI education and talent development, she emphasised that AI literacy must extend beyond technical disciplines and called upon students to develop the capacity to question AI outputs, verify evidence, recognise bias, protect personal information and remain accountable for decisions made with AI assistance.

Student participants then engaged in interactive group discussions to identify AI issues and priorities relevant to their respective countries. The discussions enabled students to exchange perspectives, identify possible areas of engagement for their national cohorts and develop ideas on how they could contribute to discussions on AI governance at national and Commonwealth levels.

The launch brings the participation of four new Asian national cohorts in the growing Commonwealth Student Community for AI Governance. Through the national cohorts, students will have opportunities to connect, collaborate and contribute perspectives from their respective countries to wider discussions on AI policy, ethics and governance.