Shehbaz stresses upon digitisation of education, proper teachers’ training n Says 100,000 laptops to be distributed among high achievers across the country n Network of Danish schools to be set up in Balochistan’s remote areas.

ISLAMABAD    -    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed that all resources and efforts should be utilized to in­troduce the modern modes of education in­cluding the digitization initiatives, besides im­parting the latest train­ing to teachers.

He was addressing a launching ceremony of ‘Teleschool Pakistan App, Google for Education and Digital Continuous Pro­fessional Development’ initiative to further rev­olutionize the formal ed­ucation medium in Paki­stan here yesterday.

The prime minister observed that teachers’ training in the country was not up to the mark which was unfortunate and cited his experience in the Punjab province.

He said that he had directed for steps to improve the quality of about 40 training cen­ters in the province during his tenure as the chief minister. The prime minister urged the Minister for Federal Education to chalk out a mechanism in con­sultations with the pro­vincial governments to improve the quality of teachers’ training.

Referring to the signif­icance of the latest tech­nology in modern ed­ucation, he underlined that if they wanted to equip the young genera­tions with the latest edu­cation, they would have to give them laptops and other related gadgets, so that the future builders of the nation could get themselves acquainted with the new modes of education.

He said that about 100,000 laptops would be distributed among the high achievers across the country, hinting that such-like initiatives would be realized. The prime minister opined that the vocational training programme should be taken forward in collabora­tion with the provincial govern­ments and the private sector.

Instead of making investments on the brick and mortar, they should invest in the young stu­dents by imparting them techni­cal and skill training, he added. The prime minister emphasized that the students should be di­rectly trained by involving the private sector. The best institu­tions in the private sector should be hired in a transparent man­ner and investment be made on each student by imparting them proper training.

The prime minister said that they would also establish a net­work of Danish schools in the far-flung areas of Balochistan for which huge investments would be made.

He expressed the confidence that the quality education to the students in remote area of the province would help bring them at par with the rest of the stu­dents of the other parts of the country. He also urged that the educational requirements of the orphan children should be tak­en care of.

He said imparting the latest education to the young genera­tions should be the goal of life for them. Appreciating the ef­forts of the federal minister, ministry and other partners, the prime minister said it was a good day for the education sec­tor of the country as the latest technology would be utilized to further improve the quality of education. Speaking on the oc­casion, Minister for Federal Ed­ucation and Professional Train­ing Rana Tanveer Hussain said that quality of education was linked with teachers’ training which was being focused.

The covid-19 pandemic had provided the world with the opportunity to adopt distance school learning methods, he added. The minister said under the initiative, six channels were being launched which would prove a milestone in the educa­tion system of the country.

He said in Pakistan there were about 22.8 million out-of-school children and resources were not enough to cater to them, adding the recent initiatives would be helpful in covering the needs of these children.

He said that the technical and skill development of the youth was vital and observed that the country’s universities were not included among the world’s top leading educational institutions which was unfortunate.

Representatives of develop­ment partners, parliamentari­ans and officials were present during the ceremony.

Secretary for Federal Educa­tion and Professional Training Waseem Ajmal presented an overview of the initiative.

He said digital contents would be created and made available on different media and added a total of six digital channels were being launched for differ­ent ages. He said after the Covid pandemic, 6000 quality videos were prepared. Teachers would also be properly trained under the professional development initiative, he added.