LAHORE - To provide facility of downloading costly textbooks, and relevant helping material the Punjab government is ready to launch in digital library installing the main server at Punjab Information Technology Board in Arfa Kareem Tower.
Provincial Minister for Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan while talking to President Pakistan Libraries Association Punjab Dr Muhammad Ramzan here Friday said that all public sector colleges and 4000 government schools out of total 55000 which had computerised labs, have already been linked with the digital library during the current fiscal year. He said that in the second phase, the process of linking more than 50,000 public sector schools of the province will be completed.
Dr Muhammad Ramzan said that a software data base of two lakh text books has been developed for educational institutions and is ready for free uploading. He said that the cost of textbooks of 9th and 10th classes come to Rs26 crore but government institutions will be able to get these two lakh books online free of cost. He told that all government institutions will also be given free access to video recordings of 20 lectures of various educationists on science subjects.
Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan directed the concerned authorities to set up a special committee to review database of 200 textbooks so no material against Islamic ideology or violating copy rights and intellectual property rights is barred from uploading.
The special committee will comprise renowned educationists Prof Zafar Iqbal Qureshi, Additional Secretary Schools Education Ahmad Ali Kamboh, Deputy Secretary Higher Education Ali Bahadur Qazi and Chairman Punjab Textbooks Board Nawazish Ali.