Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) TransPeshawar launched the Zu-bicycle-sharing service today in a ceremony held at the Peshawar University. In a company statement, TransPeshawar acquired 360 state-of-the-art bicycles docked at 32 stations around Peshawar University and Hayatabad area. The bicycle kiosks installed at each bicycle station will have a facility for customers to view their cards’ status and access their credentials. The ceremony was attended by government officials, including the Provincial Minister Transport of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr. Shah Muhammad Khan.

The statement further added that by adding non-mechanized traffic along the whole hallway and giving first and last-mile networks, the Peshawar BRT would advance contamination-free climate, great wellbeing, and comfort for commuters. Peshawar will be the first city of Pakistan to be using bicycles as public transport in the city. The BRT public transport system’s motivation is to expand admittance and utilize public transit while avoiding traffic congestion and lessening carbon emission on Peshawar streets. It is additionally about a manageable, dependable, and practical facility for people in general for quite a long time to follow.

On this occasion, Provincial Minister Transport Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr. Shah Muhammad Khan, said, “The government is determined to fulfill its commitment to provide the best public transport system to the people of Peshawar.” Said the Provincial Minister KPK. “Now it’s your turn to use the public transport as responsible citizens of the country,” he said. On this occasion, the CEO TransPeshawar, Mr.Fayyaz Khan, briefed the government dignitaries and said, “With the induction of Zu-bicycles as means of public transport, Peshawar will be the first city of the country to take the leap in reducing carbon emissions to curb pollution which is on a high in this region.”

TransPeshawar has outsourced BRT and Zu bicycle management, Intelligent Transport System (ITS), and security to LMK Resource (Pvt) Ltd, a globally recognized organization working in Pakistan. “LMKR is proud to play its part in creating smart, sustainable, ethical, and inclusive transportation systems across the country,” said CEO LMKR Pakistan Jahanzeb Moazzam Khan. “Zu bicycle, a program which offers city dwellers a green and affordable means of transport, is a testament to the role technology can play in creating a resilient and inclusive society. We are happy to see Peshawar as the First City in Pakistan to offer this service,” he added.

The registration to avail of this service has begun since the start of the month. The initiative is lauded by the public, including the university students who would now be conveniently reaching the last mile of their destination by using Zu-bicycle.

Lahore (NUT Desk) The School Education Department have suspended all co-curricular activities in seven districts of Punjab after an increase in Covid-19 cases. A notification in this regard says ‘no co-curricular activity shall be conducted in those districts where Covid-19 positivity ratio is more than 20 cases;’.

Activities were banned in Lahore, Gujrat, Rahim Yar Khan, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. The Edu Dept also directed the school administrations to ensure implementation of coron standard operating procedures. Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas also shared the notification on Twitter announcing the ban on all such activities. `Restrictions on co-curricular activities in the 7 Districts stated in the notification due to Covid-19. No Gala, sports activities or public gatherings,` the minister said. On Feb 26, Mr Raas had notified that schools in these districts would follow alternate day rules until April 1 due to higher coronavirus incidences there while regular classes would resume in other districts. The situation will be reviewed on March 31, the notification stated.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Noon Academy, a London based EdTech Startup with over 400,000 users in Pakistan, has entered into a Letter of Understanding with the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training (MoFEPT) for provision of Digital Education in Pakistan. The LoU was signed at a ceremony held at the Federal Education Ministry in Islamabad.

As per the understanding, Noon Academy, as a global e-learning platform, will use its expertise in technology to develop high quality content for the MoFEPT. MoFEPT will make the content accessible to students across Pakistan for free. The content will include recorded lectures, past paper review sessions, doubt clearing sessions and much more.

The content will be promoted through print, social and digital media, including the global award-winning Noon Academy app. The app includes live classes, practice exams, comprehensive courses, assessments, and many other social learning features.

Speaking at the occasion, Joint Secretary IC, Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Trainning, Mr. Waseem Ajmal Chaurdhary appreciated the efforts of Noon Academy and emphasized the positive impact of the private sector in the education space.

Mr. Umair Babar Chishti, Country Manager Pakistan, Noon Academy, said “Noon Academy has entered Pakistan with the vision to provide learning opportunities to everyone, and through our platform we want to make the best teachers in Pakistan affordable, accessible and available for all students in Pakistan and help them achieve their goals in life”.

Noon Academy will assist the MoFEPT in developing the concept of Tele-school on the PTV to provide learning opportunities in all provinces of Pakistan while maintaining standards and overcoming the language barriers.

 

Vocational Training Program in Punjab to Include Digital Skills on eCommerce and Digital Trade.

Punjab Vocational Training Council and Extreme Commerce Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Train Youth in the Province.

 Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The Punjab Vocational Training Council and Extreme Commerce have signed a memorandum of understanding to uplift the skill sets of the youth in Punjab. Extreme Commerce’s will offer its state-of-the art Video Boot Camp (VBC) for the training and capacity including initiatives, along with boosting the culture of entrepreneurship and E-Commerce.

Extreme Commerce has a VBC learning platform comprising of 100+ digital skills that offer interactive videos and training opportunities for skills development. Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC) was established in 1998 on the basis of Public Private Partnership by the Government of Punjab. This MOU will further strengthen Punjab Vocational Training Council’s (PVTC) work providing ample opportunities for the youth of Punjab, with digital skills. 

Sunny Ali, the Founder and Chief Executive officer of Extreme Commerce said, “This is a landmark achievement by the Government of Punjab, where it has realized the digital transformation potential and has offered digital skills-sets to its citizens to enhance their knowledge and entrepreneurial aspirations”. Empowering youth with E-Commerce dynamism knowledge will open the windows of opportunity on a global level. Extreme Commerce will make its knowledge repository available as the learning platform to the Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC).

Speaking on the Occasion, Shahnawaz Badar, Chairman, Punjab Vocational Training Council said, “We have a vision to cement PVTC as a leading organization that provides professional vocational training to all the needy youth wherever they are in Punjab”. He further said, “We aim to achieve this by exceeding students’ expectations, rewarding its employees and providing suitable opportunities for all the students to start earning a reasonable livelihood”.

Keeping in consideration the latest trends based on market demands through Training Need Assessment (TNA) after conducting demographics survey at tehsil level, PVTC has developed a curricula for 65 various trades to cater for the growing demands of industrial, agriculture, health and service sectors. Apart from their regular vocational study & practical work, Life Skills and Social Entrepreneurship courses are compulsory for each trainee.

The training of these trades will be imparted through PVTC’s 210 Vocational Training Institutes (VTIs) established in vacant/underutilized Government buildings throughout Punjab with an annual training capacity of 60,000. PVTC maintains a healthy gender balance with a female to male ratio of 49:51 and is striving to enhance it further. So far, approximately 840,269 trainees have successfully graduated from PVTC, out of which about 82% have been gainfully employed or are working as entrepreneurs.

Extreme Commerce Pakistan’s first EdTech company specializing in E-Commerce and digital trade education and practices to train Pakistani youth to sell on online platforms. Extreme Commerce and PVTC’s memorandum of understanding will also aim to improve E-Commerce and digital trade literacy in the province as well.

The partnership between Extreme Commerce and PVTC, will be imparting knowledge skills on how to sell online platforms including Daraz, eBay, Alibaba and, Amazon platforms more efficiently with maximum customer satisfaction and potential to grow. The arrangement will facilitate the sellers to expand their enterprise further and improve their online skills, including formation of new businesses, creating stores, product branding and marketing. Extreme Commerce’s Video Boot Camp (VBC) is a collection of 100+ E-Commerce and digital money-making skills for global digital trade. VBC covers an extensive range of skills that builds and empower with eCommerce and digital trade skill sets to earn money by offering services to clients across the globe. It also capacitates on setting up own businesses and stores on national and international eCommerce platforms. Through this MOU, the technology enthusiasts can create and manage new businesses. The PVTC training recipients will also benefit from the rich knowledge resource available on the VBC platform as well. The partnership will be catalytic for the Pakistani digital exports market to cross the Rs. 100 Billion eCommerce trade in 2021.  

Extreme Commerce’s vision to make Pakistan a global e-commerce back-office hub has been acknowledged by international institutions as well. Extreme Commerce aims at developing a national e-commerce ecosystem through inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs. Being Pakistan’s largest e-commerce knowledge sharing and capacity building platform, Extreme Commerce has a community of more than half a million people nationwide. Whereas PVTC trains more than 60,000 professionals every year.

With this partnership the E-Commerce community in Punjab province will have access to specialized courses designed for business enthusiasts and registered members that will focus on experiencing training on digital trade, data analysis and other innovative solutions blooming on an international level.

Extreme Commerce is Pakistan’s first EdTech start up with a sole focus on skills development and capacity building within the E-Commerce and digital arena. Founded in 2017, it is the largest community of its kind in Pakistan, with well over half a million members and over 100+ courses and income streams to choose from. Extreme Commerce estimates that by 2025, it will foster a community of over 1 million strong, generating well over $1 billion in inward remittance for Pakistan.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) ACCA calls for a more inclusive approach to economic recovery A new methodology is needed by governments says global body for professional accountants To mark International Women’s Day, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is urging more governments to adopt the use of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) to ensure that women and men benefit equally from the economic recovery out of Covid-19, and to guarantee a stop to inequality. According to the UN’s global COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker, while 164 countries have GRB in some form, just 25 – such as New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago – have demonstrated an holistic approach by applying measures that span across unpaid care, violence against women and women’s economic security.

The global body for accountants and finance professionals says that governments need to rethink their economic recovery policies. To guide them, ACCA has issued a toolkit about how accountants can place GRB into their everyday roles and responsibilities. ACCA’s call for action follows recent research published by McKinsey, which shows that although women account for 39% of global employment, they also account for 54% of total job losses as a result of the pandemic. Helen Brand OBE, chief executive of ACCA says: ‘The evidence is clear – women have suffered disproportionately as a result of the pandemic and GRB can help ensure that these inequalities are considered to ensure a more inclusive recovery. To work effectively, GRB requires political commitment at the highest level, a sufficient allocation of resources and robust capacity development at all levels.’ ACCA highlights recent high-level examples of such political commitment – the COP 26 Presidency, which called for ‘developing and implementing gender-responsive climate policies’, and Canada’s 2018 law on Gender Budgeting and Indonesia’s No.9 2000 Presidential Instructions on Gender Mainstreaming which enshrine GRB in these country’s laws to help protect it from being influenced by political changes in commitment. Helen Brand explains why using GRB is needed: ‘Pre-COVID-19 data from Standard & Poor, launched at the 2019 World Economic Forum, found that if men and women participated equally in the labour market, the US economy would be 8.7% larger, the French economy would be 17% larger and the Japanese economy would be 14% larger.

So there is a strong economic impetus for GRB’s use. This is also about meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) and especially SDG 5 – achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls – by 2030.’ For GRB to work, governments need to: · collect and analyse sex-disaggregated data to identify where problems lie so policies can be targeted effectively · ensure institutional capacity – offer staff training and development, with management buy-in so that women have decision-making roles and have an equal seat at the table · have an ‘all-government approach’ with strong coordination between the Ministry of Finance and the relevant line ministries to ensure the process is carried out at each level · engage with wider public institutions, such as Supreme Audit Institutions and the Legislature, to ensure the approach has been properly scrutinised and audited.

Sajjeed Aslam, head of ACCA Pakistan adds: ‘We believe that public sector finance professionals have a vital role to support governments and policymakers by providing them with the necessary data and tools to implement GRB effectively. This is ongoing work and it is good to see gender specific policies aligned to Covid-19 recovery with the introduction of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program.’ Helen Brand concludes: ‘GRB can be applied in all sectors of the economy and society including transport, health, education, employment and many more; so the better the coordination between government departments, the more widely the practice can be used. ‘The role of the public sector finance professional can be seen in every stage of the cycle – from initial analysis and budget design to the invaluable role of auditing in the final stage. The accountancy profession can, and should, play a key role in ensuring policymakers commit to gender equality and use GRB as a tool of effective implementation.’ 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Musab School, a leading educational institute providing quality education in Lahore, held a ceremony in honour of Mr. Azaz ur Rehman Nasir for securing admission into the prestigious undergraduate program with an annual scholarship amounting to US$ 77658, at the NYU’s Abu Dhabi Campus .

Expressing his gratitude, the star of the day Azaz Ur Rehman thanked his teachers, school management, and his parents for being the driving force behind the splendid achievement.

At the occasion, the Principal of Musab School System, Muhammad Ishaq presented the student and his parents with commemorative paraphernalia and congratulated the audience and reiterated Musab’s mission of providing high quality holistic education to students.

The simple yet graceful ceremony, attended by the school management, teachers, students, and the family members ended with a note of thanks from the parents, who showered profuse praise to the school for nurturing the talent and ensuring apropos college placements.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) Renews Education Transformation Agreement with Microsoft to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Pakistan

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Microsoft Pakistan and Higher education commission (HEC) has signed an Education Transformation agreement (ETA) at a virtual meeting held between Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC, Mark East, Vice President Education, Microsoft, Europe Middle East & Africa and other key executives from both sides to help academic institutions leverage new technologies in the learning process.

Under the ETA framework, Microsoft collaborates with Universities helping them in their digital transformation journey through a strategic technology framework implementation that helps them build a secure and connected campus, promotes teaching and learning activities, creates opportunities for academic research and increases chances of student success through easy access to knowledge and latest tools. There are multiple programs that are part of this framework impacting student and faculties’ academic lifecycle. Programs such as the Student Hackathon, focused Technology boot camps, Imagine Cup and multiple online training sessions for 200+ institutions across the country directly help with technology adoption and help build the workforce for the future.

During Pandemic, HEC has been providing remote learning solutions to drive continuity for academic activities in universities. To support the same initiative, Microsoft collaborated with HEC to bring more than 100 universities and 500,000 plus students to a digital hub of Microsoft Teams  that brings conversations content, assignments, and apps together at one place, letting educators create vibrant learning environments.

Microsoft Teams platform also works well with Moodle, which most universities use as their Learning Management System. Microsoft Teams has also recently introduced new features that allow the faculty to take online exams in a secure environment enabling teaching faculty to conduct online assessments and create quizzes with ease to minimize chances of errors.

Through this agreement, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure, will be  accessible to the Universities and will provide the ability to transform their IT infrastructure with the latest cloud offerings, manage their cyber security through cloud-native SIEM, build their high performance research clusters that are resilient and scale when needed, host their learning management solutions and innovate their on-premise applications using the platform’s easy-to-use Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning capabilities.

Microsoft will also provide consultancy to universities to adopt Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform for their Finance & Operations and Campus Management solution requirements. It is a robust, feature-rich platform to help universities, colleges, and educational organizations in to moving their core administrative & IT functions to the next generation Microsoft technologies ensuring the best outcomes for students with a 360-degree view of students and activities by providing the right services and support at the right time.

Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman HEC, shared his thoughts during virtual session “COVID Pandemic has brought many challenges for Educational sector in Pakistan but with the help of Microsoft we have successfully turn them into Opportunity and embark on the journey to transform education system through digitalization. ETA with Microsoft depicts our commitments to gearing towards revolutionizing the learning process with number of initiatives. These interventions will introduce modern technological tools to enhance faculty to student interaction at all level and provide easy access to knowledge. This cooperation has long way to go till the fulfillment of Digital Pakistan vision.”

“We have seen how this new normal has completely changed the way we interact with technology. We are witnessing the rise of remote and blended learning solutions by integrating technology in way we teach and educate. “says Jibran Jamshad, Education Lead for Microsoft Pakistan “With Microsoft 365, Azure and our productivity suite including Microsoft Teams, institutions can keep up with the rapid pace of innovation and design classrooms that foster innovation and inspire students to achieve more”, Jibran added-

Timergara is located at the east bank of Panjkora River and is the head district of Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Being a remote area, the people dwelling there do not really have many opportunities to excel in life. Even though the residents of Timergara might just be the most patriotic people you meet, they often have to migrate because of the lack of growth that the region offers. The residents who have big dreams, a passion for getting good education and want to establish themselves, usually move to bigger cities. Ata Ur Rehman and his family also moved to Karachi in the year 2009, hoping for a better life and to get better opportunities in this metropolitan city.

Moving to Karachi was a gateway for Ata to work on his dreams. He was now surrounded with all the opportunities that he lacked before. However, his happiness was short-lived. In the year 2017, Ata started feelingsick and one of the most alarming symptoms that he experienced was severe nose-bleeding. His familywasconcerned, doctors ran some tests and he was soon diagnosed with Juvenile Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma (JNA) – a rare benign tumor that forms predominantly in the nasopharynx of adolescent males. He was surgically operated in the same year and was under the impression that he is now in the clear. His family rejoiced and believed that their troubles were behind them.

“I am grateful to Patients’ Aid Foundation (PAF) for introducing the live-saving robotic radiosurgery treatment, CyberKnife at JPMC, free of cost to the less-privileged patients like me who otherwise cannot afford treatment” –          Ata Ur Rehman

Reality soon came crashing down on him in 2019when his symptoms reappeared but only this time, they were even more intense and frightening.Post-surgical residue was detected which meant that another surgery was very risky. This was a huge problem for Ata and his family. His loved ones were now more scared than ever before. When he was first diagnosed with his illness, his family somehow managed toget through, however this time, given the delicacy of the situation, it seemed near impossible for them to stay optimistic. His father and uncle dabble in manual construction work and collectively earn a family income of only PKR 30,000. Living in a joint family with his two unclesand having six siblings, Ata’s family found themselves in a situation that they thought would never come after his last surgery.

After endless struggles and closed doors, Ata finally got to know that his condition could be treated through the CyberKnife which is a robotic radiosurgery treatment that is precise and can be used for the vulnerable regions which cannot be surgically operated. With CyberKnife, Ata could be treated with reduced risks and the probability of no relapse.

Ata was finally able to get the treatment that he needed with the help of Patients’ Aid Foundation (PAF) – JPMC. PAF with the collaboration of JPMC officials, the Government of Sindh and its generous donors, has been able to set up aCyberKnife facility at JPMC that offers free of cost treatment to deserving patients. It is the only CyberKnife facility in Pakistan and the only CyberKnife facility in the world that provides the free of costtreatment which otherwise goes up to PKR 1 lac per session.It took 5 CyberKnife sessions for Ata to be treated but his treatment was a huge success.  For the next five years his doctors are going to continue with MRI so that any chances of relapse can be avoided.

Throughout his journey,Ata exercised patience and courage and has become an example for everyone around him. In spite of his testing circumstances, not once did Ata show signs of losing hope and succumbing to his illness. It was hope that lead him to believe that a solution can be found. His spirits were further lifted during his treatment because of the quality of facility and the encouraging PAF-JPMC staff that helped him to stay optimistic.

This long and hard journey only made Ata even more valiant and changed his entire outlook on life.Ata is now in 8^thgrade and plans on becoming a doctor in the future to help adolescents going through similar situations.