Staff Reporter, Dhaka : Grameenphone Academy Night, a celebration program hosted by Grameenphone Academy, was held at GPHouse on 19 Feb 2023. It was organized to award the winners of the competition ‘Grameenphone Academy – Cisco Network Academy 4IR learning challenge,’ hosted by Grameenphone Academy, a free open online learning platform.

Last year, Grameenphone Academy rolled out on-campus town halls at 9 universities and organized an intra-university competition based on courses offered (4IR learning): Cybersecurity, IoT, and Python. There was three (3) competitions per university in different categories along with one for Female@STEM. The universities are AUST, IUT, ULAB, UIU, IUBAT, DIU, BRACU & NSU.

Nahim Razzaq, MP, graced the celebration night as the chief guest, whereas Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed, the vice-chairman of BTRC, was present as the special guest. Among other guests, Yasir Azman, CEO of Grameenphone; Syed Tanvir Husain, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Grameenphone; Vice-Chancellor, Pro-VC, registrar, and senior faculties of universities, were also present at the event.

On attending the event, Nahim Razzaq, MP, said, “Grameenphone Academy is an innovative and unique approach for upskilling the youth and promoting youth empowerment. Inspired by such an initiative, I hope other ecosystem partners and institutions will take this kind of groundbreaking initiative to build a Smart Bangladesh.”

An interactive panel talk was also held at the event. Yasir Azman, CEO of Grameenphone; Rubana Huq, ex-president of BGMEA & Vice Chancellor of Asian University for Women; Enayet Chowdhury, faculty of BUET; Rifah Nanjiba, Academy student (a BRAC graduate); and Towkir Islam, Academy student (an AUST graduate), took part in the panel talk.

Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed, the vice-chairman of BTRC, said, “I whole-heartedly congratulate the winners of the competitions. Furthermore, I thank Grameenphone Academy for offering the students, a practical way of learning and contributing to minimize the skill gap prevalent in the country.”

“Grameenphone has multiple initiatives to keep our future nation safe online, while also simultaneously equipping our youth with the right skillsets to thrive and lead ‘Smart Bangladesh’. We should all play our role from each of our respective places to ensure that our youth is future-fit. Grameenphone Academy is one out of multiple initiatives from the Grameenphone house, designed to upskill people to become smart citizens. I thank the academicians for giving us access to the industry and joining hands with us in operating this academy’s activities,” said Grameenphone CEO, Yasir Azman.

Grameenphone CHRO Syed Tanvir Husain along with eight (8) senior leaders from Grameenphone, including CXOs, made the announcement of the Grameenphone Academic Bench. Professor Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor of ULAB, ended the night with a spectacular musical performance.

It is mentionable that Grameenphone Academy was kicked off in May 2022 to build a bridge between academia, industry, and students. It also aims to balance the gender gap by emphasizing upskilling of female students. To date, 45 thousand students have enrolled from 170+ universities and colleges, and 23 thousand students, including 8,200 female talents, have completed certification from this academy. The academy currently offers 14 courses, developed by Grameenphone’s in-house experts and in partnership with Cisco Network Academy, Amarischool, Creative IT, and Bright Skills, on career readiness, entrepreneurship, future industry skills, freelancing with WordPress, and essential digital skills.