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KUMON CONNECT in Sheikh Russel Digital Lab (SRDL)

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The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DoICT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BRAC Kumon Limited (BKL) on the 23rd of January in Dhaka. The MoU was signed to introduce KUMON CONNECT, a digital method of learning in Sheikh Russel Digital Labs (SRDL) nationwide. The signatories of the MoU were the Director General of DoICT, Mr. Md. Mostafa Kamal, and the Managing Director of BKL, Lady Syeda Sarwat Abed. The event was graced by the presence of Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Honorable State Minister, ICT Division, Mr. NM Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior Secretary, ICT Division, Mr. Yuji Ando, Country Representative, JETRO Dhaka Office, and TANEMURA Hidekazu, Program Advisor of JICA Bangladesh Office.

In October 2022, after successfully hosting the Advanced Student Honor Roll (ASHR) Ceremony, BKL was asked to collaborate with DoICT for the implementation of Kumon Connect in the prestigious SRDL project. To meet the Government of Bangladesh’s Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041, the SRDL project’s objectives include developing a digitally and technologically well-equipped Bangladesh, ensuring quality education, enhancing employment skills, and developing the language competency of students.

Through DoICT and BKL’s collaboration in implementing Kumon Connect in SRDLs, it is expected that the benefits of the Kumon learning method will spread to students across the country and will help the nation to create more Smart Individuals. According to DoICT officials, Kumon Connect will be initially launched in SRDLs across 6 regions before expanding nationwide; some of the regions being Singra, Belkuchi, Gopalganj, and Tungipara.

During the event, Honorable State Minister Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP stated, “In order to develop a Smart Bangladesh, we require Smart Citizens. And in order to develop Smart Citizens, we need Smart Future Generations. And this is why we emphasize so much on BRAC Kumon since we believe that this is the first step to developing a new Learning Mechanism or Ecosystem. And we wholeheartedly believe that by 2025 in 13000, and by the end of 2041 Kumon method will be available in 35000 Sheikh Russel Digital Labs (SRDL).”

Managing Director of BKL, Lady Syeda Sarwat Abed said, “We brought the Kumon Method to Bangladesh with the intention of completely removing children’s need for rote learning and the hope that they can learn everything by themselves. After coming here today, I know that Abed’s dream has really come true. Through this project, we will be able to spread the Kumon Method in Bangladesh with the help of the ICT Division.”

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The Chief Representative of JETRO Bangladesh Office Yuji Ando said, “We are delighted that as a result of the partnership between Bangladesh Government’s ICT department and BRAC Kumon, more children of Bangladesh will have the opportunity to experience Kumon. We are willing to provide all kinds of assistance required from our side in this regard.”

Founded in 1958 in Japan, Kumon is the world’s largest after-school education program which enables students to progress independently through self-learning. To date, millions of children have done Kumon across 62 countries. Top Japanese Universities have repeatedly shown through their academic research that over 95% of students who went through the Kumon learning method have experienced numerous positive effects such as improvement in problem-solving attitude, processing skills, correction skills, and thinking skills. DoICT and BKL officials believe that similar improvements can be seen in Bangladesh’s students through the spread of the Kumon method in SRDLs.

Kumon Connect will first be launched at the Singra Damdama Pilot School & College in Natore.

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Apple to spend $30 billion on Broadcom chips as it boosts US sourcing

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Apple , opens new tab plans to spend more than $30 ​billion under a multi-year chip supply deal with Broadcom, bolstering ‌its U.S. sourcing as President Donald Trump’s administration pushes to expand domestic chip manufacturing.
Broadcom shares rose more than 4%, while Apple shares were ​down marginally.
Apple said on Wednesday the deal, which ​was struck earlier this week and runs through 2031, ⁠covers FBAR filters – or radio-frequency chips used for ​wireless connectivity in its devices – that it had been ​developing with Broadcom since at least 2023.
Broadcom will invest $1.5 billion to expand its Fort Collins, Colorado, factory under the deal, which Apple ​said would result in the production of at ​least 15 billion chips and support its work with the Trump ‌administration ⁠to source more components domestically.
“The cutting-edge components built in Fort Collins are essential to delivering the incredible performance and connectivity our customers expect, and we’re proud to deepen our ​investments in ​U.S.-based suppliers ⁠that share our commitment to excellence and innovation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in ​a statement.
“We’re grateful to the president and his ​administration ⁠for supporting important projects like this.”
In August 2025, Apple raised its U.S. investment commitment to $600 billion over four ⁠years, adding $100 billion ​to a previously announced spending ​plan.

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China plans to let top AI firms buy limited Nvidia H200 chips, the Information reports

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China is planning to allow the country’s top AI companies to buy a limited number of Nvidia’s, opens new tab H200 chips, ​the Information reported on Wednesday, citing two people with direct knowledge ‌of the matter.
Chinese officials have told Alibaba, opens new tab, ByteDance and DeepSeek in recent weeks that they may soon receive permission to buy some H200 chips, the report said.
Shares of Nvidia ​rose 1% after the report.
The chip giant did not immediately respond to ​a Reuters request for comment, nor did the U.S. commerce ⁠department, which oversees exports of advanced AI chips overseas.
China’s commerce ministry also ​did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Alibaba, ByteDance and ​DeepSeek did not respond outside of regular business hours.
The U.S. government has allowed Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 chips to China, and licensed about 10 Chinese firms to buy the ​chips. However, Chinese officials, keen to nurture domestic suppliers, have withheld approval so ​far.
Reuters reported in March that Nvidia had won Beijing’s approval to sell the chips to China, ‌citing ⁠sources, and around the same time, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also told CNBC that the company had clearance from China.
Beijing is still determining the exact number of Nvidia chips to approve, and it could amount to fewer than 200,000 ​in total, the ​Information said, adding ⁠that was less than half of what the companies requested earlier this year.
Last month, Reuters exclusively reported that Nvidia told ​Chinese clients its new “Vera” central processors for AI data centres ​could be ⁠available as soon as August and that they can begin placing orders.
Nvidia’s market share in China has effectively fallen to zero, Huang said in October, hurt ⁠by U.S. ​export controls and Beijing’s push for self-reliance in ​key technologies.
The potential shift in China’s stance underscores the growing computing capacity crunch that the country’s ​tech companies are facing.

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Australia’s under-16 social media ban fails first age check hurdle, study finds

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A team of software testers found that Australian social media platforms did not request age proof for any of 50 accounts that declared themselves to be 16, a result that leaves the country’s world-first under-16 ban “ineffective” at the most basic screening stage, according to a study seen by Reuters.

Since December, platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube have been required to bar people under 16 and take “reasonable steps” to verify age, with regulators recommending multiple layered checks. But the new research, conducted by those who advised the nationwide curb, shows that the initial vetting step, which estimates a user’s age from general online activity, is failing to flag young people for tougher verification.
The testers, who last year trialled age-assurance software on more than 1,000 Australians, opened 50 new accounts after the law took effect and set the age as 16. None of the platforms asked for additional proof, the researchers told Reuters. The findings highlight a flaw that has been largely overlooked while public debate has focused on photo-based age-estimation tools.

The ban’s rollout has been widely criticised after surveys indicated that most under-16s still access the platforms. The government last month doubled the maximum fine and warned of possible court action against tech giants, accusing them of setting the system up to fail. Platforms have countered that they are simply following the regulator’s guidance, which prioritises low-friction checks and prevents reliance on government ID alone due to privacy concerns.

Some advisers to the original trial said they had repeatedly warned that the testing process ignored real-world circumvention, including minors entering false birthdates. “We did want to talk about circumvention, but we kept on being told that that wasn’t part of the actual trial,” Colm Gannon of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children told Reuters. A youth digital rights academic involved in a longer-term study of the ban said more impressive results might emerge once platforms move to age-inference methods later in the year. The regulator maintains that the recommended layered approach, if implemented correctly, ensures no single point of failure.

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