Gilgit (Ibex report): The government of Gilgit-Baltistan and Google signed an important memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday at the chief secretary’s office of Gilgit-Baltistan. According to the MoU, students, tech fellows, and local tech companies will get 2500 Google Education scholarships.
These certificates include Google IT Support Professional Certificate, Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate, Google Project Management Professional Certificate, Google UX Design Professional Certificate, Google Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Professional Certificate, and other globally recognized certificate courses.
In connection with the mentioned MoU, a global consortium consisting of representatives of Google for Education, PB Tech, and Tech Valley Pakistan met chief secretary Gilgit-Baltistan Mohiuddin Ahmed Wani in his office.
A strategy was devised in the meeting to ensure the implementation of various important projects to promote the IT sector in Gilgit-Baltistan with the support of Google.
Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan Mohiuddin Wani appreciated the efforts of Tech Valley Pakistan in completing the Google for Education pilot project. Under this project, teachers have been trained on Google for Educational tools, which will help in innovating existing teaching methods.
The participants of the Government of G-B included the secretary of finance, secretary of education, commissioner Diamer-Astor Division, deputy director of EMIS, and deputy secretary of education were also present in the meeting.
Moreover, the chief secretary expressed happiness over the establishment of Google’s Center of Excellence in Gilgit-Baltistan where teachers can benefit from the digitization of their curriculum and integration of teaching methods with Chromebooks and subject-based applications. This project will be a step towards making education accessible and technologically advanced in the region, said the chief secretary.
He said efforts are also being made by local and global connectivity partners to explore more opportunities to provide internet to schools in Gilgit-Baltistan. Such steps would help bridge the digital divide and improve internet access in the region, added the chief secretary.
He further said the G-B government has also shown keen interest in organizing road shows and STEAM activities to transform the education sector of Gilgit-Baltistan. One of the projects called SPACE TEDDY, a program for young students to foster creativity, problem solving and critical thinking, was also discussed.
The government hopes to further collaborate with tech giants in the future to make education and technology accessible to all in the region.
