GP partners UGC to tackle COVID-19 challenges in education sector

Grameenphone has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University Grants Commission (UGC) to offer affordable and customized data packs for public and private university students across the country.

The initiative has been taken in an effort to empower them with possibilities of  online education conveniently during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Grameenphone is the first telecom operator to sign such MOU with UGC to make these pack commercially available to all public and private universities who wish to avail it for their student and faculty base, said a press release.

Since the beginning of pandemic this year, Grameenphone has been one of the front runners to offer various innovative connectivity solutions for both its Enterprise and Consumer base.

Grameenphone has already offered customized students online education packs at affordable price to multiple educational institutions across nation including University of Dhaka, SUST, BUET etc.

As per the MOU, the customized and affordable data pack will be made available to all public and private universities who wish to avail it to enable their students to continue access to their virtual classes in this pandemic.

Professor Dr Kazi Shahidullah, chairman of the UGC, said, "As the crisis prolongs and we identified students were struggling with affordable and quality internet in their remote locations, and in this crisis moment we welcome the positive approach of Grameenphone to customize a very affordable pack."

He expressed optimisim over the initiative, saying, "We are confident GP is in the best position to deliver seamless network experience for all students across nation. Technology adoption has become an integral part of education sector evolution, and this partnership with GP will be a valuable opportunity in collaboration and transformation."

The effort from Grameenphone is a finest example of public private sector collaboration as the benefit will reach the future generation and students of Bangladesh immediately. "We appreciate Grameenphone noble intention to support UGC and enable the greater education sector in this National Crisis moment," he added.  

The pandemic has a staggering impact on students across the country, causing disruption to more than 40 million youth. Numerous students continued learning through online platforms as institutions nationwide adopt the digital module while others are still trying to find a proper solution.

Keeping in mind this challenge of students, the very affordable monthly students online education pack of Grameenphone will allow the students to access their virtual class room through Zoom (via BdREN), Microsoft Teams, Meets, Gmail, Google Search Engine, and access local university sites.

Beyond the students connectivity, the Universities will also have access to broadcasting solutions (sms and voice broadcast) to reach their students centrally, as well as centralized control panel to manage the SIM and data packs for their student base.

The business agreement will allow each University to pick and choose from vast range of cloud service, productivity and collaboration suite of Grameenphone portfolio as they deem fit to fast track their digitization and automation journey.

Kazi Mahboob Hassan, chief business officer of GP, said, "During this pandemic, we have seen disruption in our socio economic life; being a resilient nation, we are confident of fighting back coronavirus, recovering and rebuilding our economy."

He also mentioned "if our future, our students struggle to continue the study, we shall not be able to recover that loss. At Grameenphone we are committed to empower Bangladesh with our widest 4G LTE network, and our students must get the full benefit of communications technology and digitalization. We are honored to partner with UGC on this noble initiative."

As a partner to Digital Bangladesh, Grameenphone will continue to support UGC to accelerate the digitization journey and transform the overall education sector through its largest 4G network and innovative solutions.