The Empowering Education Transformation Agreement (ETA) between Microsoft Pakistan and Punjab Group of Colleges (PGC) lays the groundwork for a successful education digital transformation plan. PGC will be able to teach their employees and students on Microsoft tools and empower them to bridge the gap between education and employability thanks to this ETA and its Future Ready Skills platform. Last year, PGC certified over 7500 students/faculty in the fields of MOS/MTA and Fundamentals, with a grand success rate of over 90%, and is gearing up for even bigger goals this year.
The Punjab Group of Colleges is a big fan of Microsoft software. PGC has designed solutions that expand the entire enterprise utilising Microsoft Azure, the cloud computing platform, with Tower Technologies Limited (TTL) as its technical arm. Tower Technologies manages the majority of Punjab Group of Colleges’ business-critical infrastructure and applications, and its team of engineers is always trying to modernise their apps utilising Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, DevOps, and a variety of other Azure features. PGC has one of the largest E-learning platforms in the world, with hundreds of on-demand video lectures housed on Azure for its students. Another key focus area for the group is the Internet of Things (IoT), and Azure IoT Hub plays a key role in linking hundreds of devices across the province, allowing the team to develop monitoring solutions that can scale as needed.
“Our Group is determined to integrate digital learning tools and technology in every single classroom in Pakistan,” said Ms. Hajra Afzal, Director of IT at Punjab Group. We want our students to be able to compete on a global scale, and we want to thrive at the digital technology transition that is taking place in universities around the world. Partnerships like the ETA make it much easier for our youth to achieve more.”
“We at Microsoft are determined to build tailored education products and services to enable remote learning programmes around the world,” said Mr. Jibran Jamshad, Country Education Lead at Microsoft Pakistan. Our main focus in Pakistan has been on the education sector, which has been deficient in terms of digitalization. We’ve been collaborating with PGC for years to bring digital learning technologies including Office 365, Teams, Future Ready Skills, and the three clouds. This concerted effort was part of a larger plan to connect all educational institutions so that the best learning practises could be adopted and the system could be uniformed. With our solutions, we can assist students not only stay interested and learn more effectively, but also become more creative and hands-on with the latest digital developments.”
Over time, the Punjab Group of Colleges has expanded its Microsoft capabilities. Teams are used for remote learning, SharePoint and OneDrive are used for data sharing and storage, and streams are used to record lectures. During the epidemic, these methods allowed PGC to provide uninterrupted online instruction to hundreds of thousands of students across Pakistan. It also assisted in the development of a Modern Certification Platform that allows students to certify themselves with Microsoft Certifications and get future-ready skills in a seamless manner.
