The Grameenphone Academy Night, a celebration programme hosted by Grameenphone Academy, was held in the capital recently. The event was organised 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, the Grameenphone Academy rolled out on-campus town halls at nine universities and organised an intra-university competition based on courses offered – cybersecurity, the internet of things, and python. There were three competitions per university in different categories along with one for Female@STEM. The universities are AUST, IUT, ULAB, UIU, IUBAT, DIU, BracU and NSU. "The Grameenphone Academy is one 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," Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman said. The 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 emphasising upskilling of female students. To date, 45,000 students enrolled from 170+ universities and colleges, and 23,000 students, including 8,200 female ones, completed certification from this academy. The academy currently offers 14 courses, developed by Grameenphone's in-house experts and in partnership with the Cisco Network Academy, Amarischool, Creative IT, and Bright Skills, on career readiness, entrepreneurship, future industry skills, freelancing with WordPress, and essential digital skills.

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) celebrated its 17th Foundation Day on October 1, with a special online event. British Deputy High Commissioner Javed Patel joined the virtual event as the chief guest, while ULAB's trustee MP Kazi Nabil Ahmed was the guest of honour. Prof Imran Rahman, the special advisor to the university’s board of trustees, reflected on the journey of the varsity through which it has positioned itself among the best in Bangladesh, mentioning ULAB graduates are making their mark in the jobs market. Deputy High Commissioner Patel congratulated ULAB for its 17 years of successful journey. Referring to the 50 years of partnership between Bangladesh and the UK, he emphasised the significant links between the two countries, particularly in the areas of education, economic growth and social development. READ: ULAB organises week-long WURI ranking celebration Patel also expressed his satisfaction over the way ULAB was offering quality education and adopted to the pandemic. Referring to the liberal arts ethos of the university, he emphasised the need for free thinking for lifelong learning. Kazi Nabil, on his part, highlighted the contributions of the institution's founder Kazi Shahid Ahmed, who established the university as a place that would make a difference and develop young minds to their fullest potential. In his concluding remarks, ULAB’s acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Shamsad Mortuza said, "The university has now come of age and wants to benchmark itself against international standards. Our next priorities will be internationalisation, and we are looking for meaningful partnerships with our international partners." READ: ULAB's DIMFF places 28th in 2021 WURI Ranking The University's new website was launched to celebrate the occasion. Anchored by Nadia Rahman, the virtual event was also joined by ULAB’s treasurer Professor Dr Milan Kumar Bhattacharjee and Registrar Lt Col Md Foyzul Islam (retd).