Info-Tech Use A Must For Economic Development: Punjab Education Minister

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jan, 2021 ) :Punjab Minster for Education Murad Raas said on Thursday that economic development was deeply related with the education sector, while the Information-Technology (Info-Tech) use was a must to achieve the economic goals.

Addressing the business community here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), he said that the provincial government was bringing changes in the education system and setting up new standards. "Our focus has been on quality education, and the use of information technology in education system and uniform curriculum are top priorities of the Punjab Education Department," he added.

The minister said that the government was utilising the latest technologies for setting the school education system on modern lines. He said that translation of Quran had already been part of the curriculum. He said that 1,000 new science & IT labs and 400 libraries would be established soon, asserting that daily 50 per cent students would attend school on rotation basis. He said that 70 per cent of private schools were those which were taking fees up to Rs 5,000 per month. He said that serving of meal to students in schools would be started soon.

Insaf academy Programme was also being launched through which student could get their education while sitting at home. He said that 22,000 students had been brought back to schools. He said that reservations of publishers in respect of uniform curriculum would be addressed, while registration of private schools had been started.

Murad Raas said that transfer and posting system for teachers had been made transparent though an App while the entire education system in Punjab would be automated. He said that the Punjab government was taking steps to introduce uniform curriculum, but that would happen in phases.

LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah presented the address of welcome and talked highly about the role of quality education in economic turnaround. He said that the country was experiencing the most unusual circumstances caused by coronavirus, which had altogether changed the complexion of activities across the globe.

He said that Single National Curriculum (SNC) was need of the hour. Though the government would face a lot of challenges in this regard, once it was properly implemented, the gaps among the students of public and private educational institutions in terms of competence and adaptability would be greatly abridged.

The LCCI president said that in addition to introducing the SNC, the Punjab Education Department would have to implement strong mechanism to monitor the performance of teachers in public sector.

Misbah said that there were some governance issues in educational institutes as well, which required to be addressed by way of devising an effective planning and introducing the latest management system, well supported by the information technology.

He said that the steps would not only improve the ratio of meaningful learning but also enhance the employability level of students after they pass out from colleges and universities.

LCCI Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan said that genuine reservations of publishers and school owners should be addressed as they had faced heavy losses due to COVID-19.

Haji Muhammad Asif Sehar, Zeshan Sohail Malik, Malik Riaz Iqbal, Saleem Asghar Bhatti, Ibrahim Sheikh, Sheikh Sajjad Afzal, Shahzad Butt, Imran Bashir also spoke.