HEC, Microsoft join hands to provide genuine software for students

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) in collaboration with the Microsoft Pakistan has launched National Student Software Accessibility (NSSA) Portal to provide genuine software availability to the higher education sector.

 The service will streamline software distribution to all faculty members and students of public sector universities in the country. All public sector universities recognized by HEC have been provided a customizable Portal for licensed software distribution. The portal consisting of around 150 software applications will enable over one million students and about 40,000 faculty members to download genuine Microsoft software.

The event to mark the launch of the portal was held at HEC Secretariat on Saturday and was attended by the Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Directors, and representatives from different universities of the country. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Javaid R. Laghari, Chairperson HEC said that this is a great opportunity for institutions of higher learning to gain access to a broad spectrum of technology and enable the country to move towards a knowledge-based economy, ultimately benefiting the country through socioeconomic development. “I appreciate Microsoft’s commitment for development of the education sector in Pakistan. It is always fruitful for public sector and private enterprise to combine expertise, knowledge and resources to ensure successful and sustainable education transformation. Microsoft has facilitated HEC to attain its goals by transforming education, fostering local innovation and creating jobs and opportunities through the Strategic Education Alliance,” the Chairperson said.

Kamal Ahmed, Country General Manager, Microsoft Pakistan said that Microsoft believes that Information and Communications Technology, combined with education, provides the path to individuals, communities and nations to achieve their potential. “NSSA provides support for a comprehensive joint public/private implementation plan that will sustain Pakistan’s objective of achieving education excellence. It is aligned with the key strategic aims of transforming education, fostering local innovation and use of genuine software,” he said. The portal will further strengthen HEC’s objectives of equipping university students and faculty members with the latest technological access across Pakistan. Last year Microsoft and HEC entered into the agreement to provide centralized IT services to the universities and degree awarding institutions across Pakistan while maintaining the highest standards in the use of ICT across higher education sector in the country. The alliance consists of Faculty Connection, Microsoft Student Partner Programme, Imagine Cup, Course Lab Integration, Student to Business Interaction (S2B), .NET clubs and MSDN Academic Alliance.