Amendments in curriculum: Government decides to establish regulatory authority on IT education: minister

"The government has decided to establish a regulatory authority on information technology education for proposing amendments in curriculum to upgrade its standard and make it more market-oriented to create job opportunities, spur economic growth and meet modern world requirements."
This was stated by Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui while talking to media persons here on Wednesday.
Replying to a question he said that the mobile licence renewal policy is ready and almost approved, while the ministry would issue policy directive to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for implementation.
He said that Pakistan produces 25,000 IT graduates every year but only a few thousands get job in the market due to lack of required standard and certification.
"My heart goes with young generation and my ministry has been working to spur academic and entrepreneurial growth," he said, adding that there is need to keep pace with the world to generate more employment opportunities and end unemployment.
It is the technology and quality education which have helped minimise poverty. Siddiqui said that many countries in the region have gone far beyond in the area of IT education, adding that it is very important to determine correct direction.
He said that adoption of technology is imperative to give next generation a better and prosperous future.
The minister said that a comprehensive cyber security policy using a multi-stakeholder approach has been devised and would be introduced soon.
The cyber security is an issue of global concern and the countries are adopting the cyber governance frameworks.
The cyberspace is increasingly being used as a vehicle of crimes and other social ills, which necessitates its security, safety and resilience in order to foster its positive dimensions that include bridging digital divide while influencing every aspect of economic and social activities, he said.
The minister further said that economy was in very bad shape when the incumbent government took over, but expected the economy will come out of deficit in a year.
Earlier, a high-level delegation of Allied ICT Finland (AIF) called on the minister here to discuss the matters related to information and communication technology (ICT) and digitalisation.
The delegation was led by Matti Saren, a Senior Board Member of AIF, to discuss areas of bilateral interest related to human capital development in Pakistan on European standards.
The minister also invited the AIF for opening IT university campus in Pakistan where the government would provide all facilities as the government is going to implement education emergency in the country.
The AIF is a government-based organisation and a collaborative network which acts as a national ecosystem for applying and enabling ICTs globally.
The AIF consists of 19 Finnish universities and ICT research institutes, 3,000+ researchers and more than 1,200 companies. Saren apprised the federal IT minister of the developments taking place in the European ICT sector and how the AIF consortium of universities and researchers can help Pakistani youth in applied ICT skills of international standards.
He also informed the IT minister about the global market ICT dynamics and trends related to emerging technologies and the type of expertise which will be required in the coming 20 years and how Pakistan should prepare itself for catering the global market requirements through high impact short-termed ICT vocational courses and certifications.
During the meeting, Dr Siddiqui shared his views about human capital development and termed Pakistani youth as "asset" of the nation.
He further added that in order to ensure larger inclusion and take the opportunity to the grassroots level, digital space can be pivotal and the ministry is looking into developing programmes where masses could be targeted maximally and at low cost.
Dr Siddiqui emphasised on the quality of human resources and their applied skills so that the overall wage structure of Pakistani professionals could improve in the international market. He directed his team to further look into possible collaboration in this regard.
Possible collaboration on students exchange and scholarship programme for Pakistani students was also discussed.
Dr Khalid said the delegation agreed to support Pakistan in standardisation for improving and enhancing quality of IT education.
He said the delegation of Allied ICT Finland was also asked to engage with Virtual University to explore areas of bilateral interest.
Replying to another question, he said the ministry has proposed projects relating to e-governance, e-health and e-education for the next fiscal year budget and hopes to have reasonable allocation for the purpose.