ISLAMABAD (MEDIA)
Microsoft Pakistan and HEC recently commemorated the three-year achievements of their Education Alliance Agreement. The alliance was made in 2010 and since then 73 public sector universities have seen various Microsoft programs being implemented on their campuses.
The Education Alliance Agreement guides HEC’s vision of broadening access to education, enabling student-centric learning, enhancing education with powerful software tools and improving the efficiency of education systems. Under the agreement, Microsoft Pakistan provides some of its more core services to help HEC achieve its target of growth and prosperity. The alliance includes programs such as:
Faculty Connection codes have been distributed in more than 60 public universities across Pakistan, a total of 514 codes have been distributed among the faculty of 60 universities. The Electronic License Management Service Portal is a part of the MSDN Subscription which is provided to all 73 public sector universities in Pakistan and provides licensed software to the general student population.
Dr. Javaid R. Laghari, chairman, Higher Education Commission said, “Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become the cornerstone of development in any sector of society, whether in applied or natural sciences, social and health sciences, arts and humanities, agriculture and engineering. One of the key pillars of knowledge economy is ICTs. The HEC – Microsoft Education Alliance Agreement is a long term partnership providing licensed, updated and state-of-the-art software, tools and services to all higher education institutions. HEC’s vision to serve as an engine of socio-economic development is thus best served, amongst others, through such partnerships, and will help our youth face future challenges and find appropriate solutions through the use of ICTs.”
Amir Rao, country manager, Microsoft Pakistan reiterated the company’s commitment to promoting education in the country by saying:“Microsoft works together with HEC to help local universities gain better access to technology, develop teaching skills, provide students with tools to enhance their learning and equip the administration with tools to implement and manage change. The education alliance framework was developed through careful planning and choosing the best program agreements out of the many offered by Microsoft. This partnership is what allows public institutions like HEC to truly realize the transformational value of their investment, and industry-leading partnership is what Microsoft brings to the table. No one is as committed to serving the needs of the education space as we are. Together with HEC, we have a vision to create a prosperous Pakistan by honing the skills of today’s enthusiastic youth and imparting to them necessary skills which will help them face the future challenges with a broader mind set.”
The Education Alliance is another example of Microsoft Pakistan playing a significant part in leading the IT innovations across different areas of government, health and education sectors. The company’s commitment towards mobilizing resources around the world to create opportunities in the communities where they do business and to strengthen their ties with partners across the globe has always been its priority. By making genuine Microsoft software and training programs more accessible, the HEC-Microsoft partnership is helping several students reap its benefits and will continue to do so in the future.