Category: Education

Making first 2,000 Exams of Microsoft MOS and MTA free for students

Bridging the gap between Education and Employability

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan has joined the league of some of the top countries of the world by providing a Certification from Home Platform for Microsoft Certifications for its students. An agreement was reached between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and Microsoft to provide this Certification free of cost to the first 2000 students who register for the opportunity. It’s a major step not only for bridging the gap between education and employability, but also for helping students acquire professional skills while they have more time during this Covid period.

Microsoft and HEC have been working together in a strategic partnership over the last decade to promote the use of information technology in the Higher Education sector. The partnership covers all public and private sector universities in the country, with multiple programs aimed at upskilling theyouth and providing them with multiple platforms which can be used to help build up their capacity and showcase their technical potential at a global level.

Under thisstrategic partnership,a certification platform has been launched toprovide students with a prescribed curriculum roadmap, a kindof a blueprint for technology skill development and certification. Specific areas of study include Productivity, Computer Science, Data Science, and IT Infrastructure. The offered Certifications of MTA(Microsoft Technology Associate) and MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist)provide useful credentials for individuals seeking to validate their skills and advance their careers. The exams covered include all the productivity tools under Office 365, but also cover tech intensive certification paths, such as Cloud Fundamental courses covering Azure Fundamentals, Dynamics 365 Fundamentals and Microsoft 365 Fundamentals.

Many students have found that they have more time at hand during the long COVID-19 break,which can give them the space to focus on developing marketable skills in addition to theoretical knowledge.To support such students, HEC plans to introduce the Certification from Home Platform initiative for students across Pakistan. Under this initiative, the first 2,000 students who register for a certification would get a free certification offer on their choice of available MOS or MTA offerings. The students can conveniently select the technology area of their choice and not only learn at home with in-depth tutorials and self-study videos but also take the Exam online from the comfort of their home.

Commenting on the relationship between HEC & Microsoft, Chairman HEC Dr. Tariq Banuri said,

”Digital transformation has been at the forefront of every industry in the last few years, and education is no different. Working with Microsoft, HEC has been able to bring in a set of tools and technology offerings that can help establish a technology-rich culture in higher education. Enabling students to acquire more advanced skills not only helps them in their careers, it also strengthens the technical potential ofPakistani industry as well as academia.”

Microsoft has partnered with Certiport – a Pearson VUE Business, to deliver this program for universities under HEC’s leadership. To ensure the best exam experience for the end user, without facing any lag or other downtime, Azure is the cloud platform of choice which is being used to host the IaaS resources to deliver this complete experience. The platform has been used to deliver more than 120,000 exams globally, with great reviews from teachers and students. Azure is also the cloud platform of choice for multiple universities across the country, being used for backup and disaster recovery strategies, to host Universities webservices, and as a driver for a Universities Cyber Security strategy using tools such as Azure Security Center and Sentinel, the Cloud-native SIEM of Microsoft.

Country Education Lead Microsoft-Pakistan; Mr Jibran Jamshad shares that “today’s workplace requires adaptability to frequent technology changes and problem-solving strategies. The variety of skills you can learn in the Microsoft Certification Program allows you to display your flexibility to current and prospective employers. These credentials demonstrate that you can use a variety of strategies to solve problems and resolve the concerns of consumers as well as stakeholders more effectively” .

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) With all education institutions still remaining closed in Pakistan, following the impact of COVID-19, both learners and educators have struggled to cope with the disruptions to traditional education, interruptions that threaten to widen pre-existing learning gaps in different regions, thus aggravating the growing digital divide.

To help bridge this gap, Huawei Pakistan launched the “Learn ON for All” program in Pakistan, to ensure widespread accessibility to high-quality education.

Prior to the launch of the ‘Learn On for All’ program, Huawei Pakistan has already conducted six online guide sessions with around 150 students from Huawei ICT Academy. Six ICT academies have conducted 12 online certification courses.

Additionally, 167 instructors from 15 HEI’s participated in four Train the Trainers (TTT) programs for HCIA-Security, HCIA-5G, HCIA-AI and HCIP-AI, including senior professors from the top universities in the country. From March to today, more than 500 teachers and learners have participated in the online certification exams, with a 90% passing rate.

“This training has been quite enlightening, and a great learning experience. I nominated other faculty members of our department to enhance their skills in the field of AI. I appreciate Huawei’s efforts and would suggest to keep on conducting such trainings, as it helps us provide quality online education and train our instructors on the latest industrial trends,” remarked Prof. Dr. Laiq Hasan on the TTT program, Chairman of the Department of Computer Systems Engineering, UET Peshawar.

After having successfully facilitated the above mentioned online programs, Huawei Pakistan is now launching the “Huawei Certification for All Pakistan Programme 2020”. Students, teachers, ICT industry participants, and anyone interested in the networking technologies can now apply to remotely obtain associate and professional level certifications free of cost.

The subjects feature an array of different networking technologies, from traditional Routing and Switching to latest technologies like 5G, AI to name a few.

Interested parties can participate by registering for a Huawei Uniportal ID and availing the high-quality resources available online on the open platform, including lectures from Huawei experts from across the globe, for self-study.

In order to be eligible for a free exam voucher worth 200USD, candidates will be required to clear a mock examination, following which they can apply to take the certification exam at home. The dates for the exams will be regularly updated on Huawei Pakistan’s social media. Live sessions and Webinars for Online Higher Education are also scheduled to be inducted into the ‘Learn On for all’ program.

Intelligentization has become a benchmark of countries’ competitiveness, and a digital society is emerging in it’s truest sense. Huawei Pakistan remains committed to further decrease the digital divide by reaching out to any and all who are interested in improving their digital skills in advanced technical fields, with a program that provides remote accessibility from its first step to its last.

For more information regarding these programs, please visit: https://e.huawei.com/en/talent/

The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi grieves with the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA) University on the sad demise of its Vice Chancellor, Professor Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui. He was a legendary educationist who took the University to new heights of excellence in the last 16 years. His services to academia, the Institution and to the province of Sindh will always be remembered. IBA Karachi’s thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and Sukkur IBA University.

Both institutions share a cherished history; Sukkur IBA University was affiliated with IBA Karachi from mid-1990s to 2009. We sincerely hope Sukkur IBA University will carry forward his vision for change and a better tomorrow for the students of Sindh and Pakistan.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Zong 4G, Pakistan’s Number 1 digital communication company,  has partnered with NUST Military College of Signal (MCS) to provide training students on its new IoT platform OneNET.

With an annual free access to IoT platform OneNET, Zong 4G’s training focused on this platform’s Features, benefits, IoT communication modules and E-SIMs technology within academia. Pakistan’s leading telecommunication network, Zong 4G’s state-of-the-art video conferencing tool ‘LinkUp’ was utilized to provide strategic training on OneNET IoT platform to MCS students. Areas covered in this training included the introduction of IoT; IoT Platforms & their benefits; IoT Platform OneNET and IoT communication modules & E-SIMS.

“Zong 4G has evolved an innovative IoT ecosystem which has ushered Pakistan into a new age of connectivity that is transforming the lives of millions of Pakistanis. With IoT as the emerging technology, Zong 4G will continue to provide this OneNET platform to educational institutions & universities, incubation centers, startups and other IoT companies around the country, thereby unlocking great value for the Pakistani business society and community at large”, said an official spokesperson of the company.

“We are very pleased to partner with one of the leading universities of the country, NUST MCS. I am confident that this partnership will go a long way in assisting and facilitating learning through digital solutions and will pave way for a digital Pakistan”, he added.

As the leaders of digital innovation in Pakistan, Zong 4G is the first operator to test 5G and successfully connect South Asia’s first 5G video call, Zong 4G is not only the first telco to have locally hosted IoT platform in Pakistan, but is also the first operator to develop IoT Eco-system within industry and academia. In addition to that Zong 4G has used its newly launched product ‘LinkUp’ for the demo of its 1st in industry IoT platform OneNet In a bid to create a digital ecosystem for its corporate customers, Zong 4G is working closely with corporate clientele as well academia across the country and is introducing customized solutions and developing IoT ecosystem to disrupt everyday mundane processes, and innovative approaches to tackle both simple and complex problem statements.

Standing tall as the largest, widest and fastest 4G network of the country, Zong 4G has and has deployed the country’s largest and widest 4G network. With more than 14,000 4G sites Zong 4G is the industry leader which is investing heavily to provide state-of-the-art 4G services to its customers across Pakistan.

CREATIVITY UNDER LOCKDOWN Something of significance occurred on 21st May, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, which went unnoticed in Pakistan but managed to receive international accolade. UNESCO and MEADOWS international NGO (Mediterranean Endevors Advancing Development of Widespread Sustainability) led by the dynamic international artist and Olympian gold medalist, geologist and conservationist from Beirut Lena Kelekian, launched an artistic endeavor to highlight cultural diversity through unity, especially in the times of the current pandemic.

UNESCO and MEADOWS opened a virtual exhibition of artists from over 120 countries, including Pakistan, who contributed generously with their art to bring attention to the current crisis. Among these artists is Khadija Khosa. As a Public Policy graduate from King’s College London, and a lecturer in the same field, she says this project appealed to both the artist and policy-maker in her, who wants to bridge the gap between the need for awareness and better management of the current crisis.

Khadija says representing Pakistan at such prestigious platforms was a moment of pride for her; and to be able to partake in the global effort to raise hope and awareness against COVID19 is something that was deeply fulfilling. Her artwork was born out of the ancient tradition of Indo-Persian Miniature, painted with watercolour on Wasli and then photoshopped on to a digital ‘mask’.

The work was titled “Fighting the Demon”, and the idea behind the image represents humanity fighting COVID together. The goal was to turn masks – which are now being seen as symbols of fear and confinement into emblems of hope, sustainability, introspection and resilience. Khadija believes that in the current times where most people are enclosed in their homes and the atmosphere is that of borderline despair, art is a colourful and convenient way to reach out to people. When most galleries around the globe are closed, UNESCO and MEADOWS have reached out to people online through digital art – also being termed ‘resiliart’ as a tool to promote resilience through art. This also sheds light on the significance of our environment and how to better take care of it – which can be achieved successfully by a combined global effort.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) In the wake of COVID-19 constraints, the IBA Karachi has decided to overhaul the admission process for its undergraduate programs. The aptitude test scheduled for July 5, 2020 for BBA, BS Accounting & Finance, BS Economics and BS Social Sciences & Liberal Arts programs has been substituted with an Alternative Assessment Criteria.

The revised process includes shortlisting of candidates based on prior academic qualifications, co-curricular activities, social internships, achievements and the personal statements by the candidates. Announcing these policy changes, IBA Executive Director Dr. S Akbar Zaidi said that the quick movement and pragmatic changes are set out as a necessity to adhere to public health and safety guidelines issued by the government and for the safety of all stakeholders. The IBA Karachi aims to start the next academic year on time and therefore, all candidates are encouraged to apply for admission and complete all the requirements preferably before the deadline to avoid any inconvenience at the last moment.

Empowering more students to continue learning through technology in a secure environment

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  In an effort to accelerate remote learning in a safe and secure environment, Microsoft is supporting the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan by deploying Teams for official online and remote learning interactions across more than 100 public and private universities.

The move is in response to the call by the HEC for ideas on how to address the impact of COVID-19 on education and research.This pandemic has forced educators and students to rush into distance learning.

“Our strong collaboration with Microsoft has spanned many areas including research innovation, capacity building, and of course the services provided by Office 365. The use of Teams will ease the transition for many of our members into innovative modes of educational delivery, and also help us address the future needs of our students in rapidly shifting employment markets”, says Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman for Higher Education Commission in Pakistan.

With the help of Microsoft, the move to a virtual classroom environment has allowed for seamless continuity with no disruption in the learning experience for many students. Functions such as Whiteboard in Teams allows for a live interactive environment, while educators are able to moderate classroom discussions by muting, recording and sharing control which drives engagement. For assessments, educators are also able to easily create and grade quizzes in Teams using Microsoft Forms

Many industries are adapting to a new way of living, working, and learning. Microsoft’s commitment is centered on supporting educational institutions to maintain continuity through the provision of remote learning tools. “As universities move to remote learning, Teams can provide an online classroom that brings together virtual face-to-face connections, assignments, exams, files and conversations into a single platform accessible on a mobile device, tablet, PC, or browser. Through this partnership, we’ve been able to provide access at the various institutions and are working alongside HEC to ensure the smooth training and rollout throughout the country,” says Jibran Jamshad, Education Lead for Microsoft Pakistan.

Other tools that have been revolutionizing the education experience of educators and learners alike include that of Microsoft Flipgrid, a tool for educators that engages students through creating and sharing short videos. Flipgrid includes Immersive Reader, with tools that read text out loud and provides other reading assistance and accessibility features to help ensure all students can participate. It also enables students and learners of all abilities to express themselves with confidence.

Educators can also make use of Microsoft Streams to record their lectures giving them automatic access through their classroom channel on Teams. For ease of reference, having their assignments and other class materials on One Note provides one repository where all materials are organized and easily accessible.

“We are also acutely aware of the online safety for our students as they transition to this new way of learning. Microsoft Teams, as part of the Microsoft 365 (M365) service, follows all the security best practices and procedures such as service-level security through defense-in-depth, customer controls within the service, security hardening and operational best practices proactively protecting our customers from security threats, added Jamshad. 

On the long term, HEC and Microsoft have created the Education Transformation Framework (ETF) – a foundational agreement modeled on the pillars of capacity building, skill certification, outreach campaigns and the annual Imagine Cup competition. Digital transformation is an indisputable force revolutionizing our industries, reinventing our products, redefining our services, and reshaping the way we work. This means that students will enter a very different job market. Microsoft is committed to working with HEC to provide immersive learning that will improve experiences and education outcomes of the students in Pakistan.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) hosted a series of high-level conversations to assess the current disruption caused by Covid-19 and its evolving impact on the education sector in Pakistan. Featuring renowned thought leaders from Pakistan, the Middle East, Europe and the U.S., the experts were engaged in future-focused conversations exploring how the current situation will shape the future of education.

The experts largely agreed that, like other sectors in the economy, the education industry was also not prepared for this pandemic and lacked a solid contingency plan.

The panels were divided in three focus areas: the higher education, school systems, and the technological considerations, allowing experts to carefully assess the sweeping effects of Covid-19 on learners of different backgrounds and review the availability of technology to support a contingency plan.

It was pointed out that despite the lack of preparedness, the majority of private sector educational institutes were quick in their response and were successful in restoring learning using online methods. However, a lot needs to be done to provide an ideal environment to learners and enable effective assessment of their progress.

The education leaders urged the government to ensure availability of fast internet connectivity across Pakistan to support their ambitions of introducing new models of blended learning that are not exclusive to students living in large cities only.

It was also highlighted that online delivery is pointless if institutes don’t move to online assessment. Options like online exams and remote invigilation were also discussed. Under remote invigilation, exams are taken online and supervised remotely by a live invigilator. There is a thorough system of checks involving biometrics, artificial intelligence and recording – rigour, security and integrity are paramount.

“The current situation has accelerated digitisation in the education sector. But we should only improve on this innovation-backed resilience, and must not go back to old, pre-Covid-19 ways of delivering learning.” – Sajjeed Aslam, head of ACCA Pakistan 

Commenting on ACCA’s response to Covid-19, Sajjeed Aslam said,

“The disruption in exams has made us to look at solutions such as online exams and online proctoring. As a forward-thinking organisation, we are blazing the trail and intend to pilot remote exam-taking in certain countries as early as June this year.”

The panellists who shared their professional insights included Ali Ahmad Khan, Chief Operating Officer, Beaconhouse School System, Reza Ali, Director of Professional Education, ACCA, Dr Sadia Nadeem, Dean, Fast School of Management, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Hasan Azhar, Group CEO, HRSG, Fazeela Gopalani, Head of Middle East, ACCA, Attiya Noon, School Improvement Partner, The City School, Sarah Concoran, Director of e-Assessment Transform & e-Delivery, ACCA, Lee Rubenstein, Executive Vice President, edX , Dr Farrah Arif, Founder & CEO, EDTechWorx, and Almas Abbas Ali, Head of Education – South, ACCA.

ACCA believes that this pandemic has also given us an opportunity to come together and rethink and redefine the future of education. Its standing as a global super connector uniquely positions it to take the lead on such issues of public good and bring together important stakeholders.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Telenor Velocity, digital startup accelerator by Telenor Pakistan, has introduced its EdTech Innovation programme, forging strategic alliances with EdTech startups/scaleups, serving as a roadmap for making a rapid shift to online learning and skill development. This initiative is launched in response to closure of educational institutions and offices due to coronavirus outbreak.

The ongoing crisis has impacted students across the nation, but the circumstances have also resulted in a speedy transition to online learning, and e-education has become the need of the hour. In Pakistan over 76 million people have access to the internet, however there is a gap when it comes to provision of online learning content and authentic educational platforms. In order to bridge this gap and contribute towards building a knowledge economy, Telenor Pakistan brings forth a range of digital education solutions to facilitate the continuity of learning and skill development.

The programme varies from providing curriculum and skill-based education for school, college and university students to offering additional courses including personal development modules, digital skills, and STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) with a special focus on Robotics.

“We, at Telenor Pakistan, have been at the forefront of bringing technological interventions and innovative solutions for various segments of the society. Young minds in Pakistan are finding solutions to everyday challenges through technology. This collaboration with EdTech startups/scaleups to enable virtual education in the country is a testament to our commitment to provide best in class solutions and platforms to students helping them cope with the COVID19 pandemic” said Sardar Abubakr, Chief Digital & Strategy Officer at Telenor Pakistan. He further said, “Together, we aim to optimize new technologies to upskill our youth and have made sure that learning and upskilling never stops.”

The Telenor Velocity EdTech Cohort has stepped forward to help students shift to the virtual realm and onboarded a number of partners for this purpose including K-5 SABAQ Muse, a  comprehensive learning solution based on videos, games and ebooks in multiple languages for early grades; Edaksa concentrating on STEAM education and helping Pakistani high school students prepare and pass their standardized government exams; EDTechWorx, a content creation and collaborative delivery platform which connects learner, educators and the overall industry; Skills First, an online academy which aims to empower people to learn employable skills for a better future; and LearnObots, which aims to develop makers and creators of tomorrow, with a practical learning approach in the domain of Educational Robotics.

While the coronavirus spread across the world may not have been contained yet, the education system continues to sustain itself by truly embracing the idea of ‘learning anywhere, anytime’. Telenor Pakistan is making significant efforts towards e-learning for students and job seekers. The organisation, under its ACTIVATE programme will be training 1000 students on design thinking and is vigorously creating programs that enable them to rapidly and efficiently gain new and important skills and competencies.