HEC skill enhancement initiative
THE distance learning and skill enhancement initiative (DLSEI) by Higher Education Commission is a leap forward to equip students from higher edition institutions with updated knowledge by engaging top ranking universities across the globe. This will certainly help students cope with challenges of skill development while acquiring higher qualification. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is a constitionally established institution of primary funding, overseeing, regulating and accrediting the higher education in Pakistan.
The cohort-1 of this initiative was launched in January 2023 which will end on 31 July 2023. This phase of DLSEI, twenty thousand students belonging to different universities and other higher education institutions across Pakistan are given free access to repository of courses pertaining to different domains such as emerging fields of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, 3D printing, Game Theory besides Foreign Policy studies etc., from social sciences. Students can register to access more than 6000 courses and choose from 28 learning tracks from top-ranked international universities on Coursera — the world’s leading online learning platform. These courses are being conducted by top ranked universities of the world such as the University of Chicago, the University of London, the Michigan University and to name a few. Students can select these courses according to their skill-sets. Courses are designed flexibly and visibly improve the skill-sets as a learner progresses.
The highlight of this initiative is vibrant support and effective guidance by support team. The team emplaced a well-planned strategy to guide students to get maximum out of this initiative. Consecutive webinars set the path for learners to effectively harness this initiative. More than twenty webinars have been conducted which played a pivotal role in the success of this initiative. The HEC is going to start cohort-2 from August 2023 which will culminate in February 2024. This time HEC is offering twenty five thousand free licenses to students. This shows the confidence of students in this initiative.
Provision of fast and uninterrupted internet connectivity is essential to accrue maximum gains of such initiatives. Although students of urban areas are being benefitted most by this initiative, under developed areas such as province of Balochistan and rural areas of other provinces might face hurdles to access portal of this initiative due to internet outages. The HEC might direct higher education institutions to ensure provision of smooth internet access at least at their campus level.
This initiative has a great significance. When Pakistani nation is striving to weather economic recession, people of the country are facing the challenge of unprecedented inflation, the HEC has kindled the hope of a better future by equipping students of higher education with updated knowledge to enhance their skills to take up challenges of professional life and contribute to improve economic outlook of the country.
This initiative will result in a more robust and broadened community of freelancers which will earn precious revenue for the country. The government should give requisite incentives and facilitate these freelancers by eliminating impediments such as intricate banking challenges and stable internet connectivity. To make this initiative more encompassing, the HEC might engage top ranking universities to include domains such as international law, arms control and non-proliferation, geopolitics etc.
