DTC Pakistan at a glance
Virtual University of Pakistan (VU) is a public university established in 2002 with the mission to provide the highest quality of education and research opportunities to students irrespective of their age, gender, religion, and geographical location by using modern ICT with content developed by top experts of their respective fields. It joined the Initiative in January 2022. Today, the university counts on more than 200 campuses across the country delivering digital skill training at basic, intermediate and advanced level.
DTC Pakistan conducts a training seminar to empower high school girls through digital skills
On 29 July 2024, the Virtual University (VU) of Pakistan organised a one-day training seminar under the theme “Empowering Girls with ICT skills”, with the support of ITU and the Government of Norway through the Project “Boosting Digital Skills through Digital Transformation Centres” along with technical support from Cisco. The training was organized with the aim to inspire female high-school students to pursue ICT and STEM education through various learning platforms and guide them in their studies and future careers.
The seminar took place at the VU Lahore and Raiwind Road Office Lahore and brought together 40 onsite participants, in addition to 60 girls who joined remotely from the VU campus in Karachi Orangi Town, and from a school in Islamabad of Telecom Foundation Education System (TFES). Participants primarily consisted of high-school girls in the 9th and 10th grade who have little to no basic digital skills and who come from underserved or underprivileged communities.
The programme started with a panel session featuring national and international ICT professionals: the discussion highlighted the collaborative efforts of the ICT sector leaders in Pakistan and shared insights on the achievements of the DTC Initiative and its impact to date in the country. The panel was followed by an overview presentation on the Digital Transformation Centres Initiative and demonstration of the Cisco NetAcad and Skills for All platforms.
Students were also introduced to the HP-LIFE platform through a practical and hands-on session held in Urdu. After registering on the platform, they had the opportunity to enrol and complete several courses and benefitted from the guidance and support of VU Pakistan trainers and facilitators. A virtual follow up session will be held in August after the summer break, so that participants can share their feedback and impressions on the HP-LIFE courses.
