KARACHI, Oct 30: The National Curriculum Revision Committee on Electronics has recommended the immediate establishment of electronics departments at all general and engineering universities in the public sector through a presidential ordinance.
The committee that met here, under the aegis of the University Grants Commission, also resolved for introduction of four-years professional degree programme in electronics at universities, in line with their respective statutes and requirements.
The body, which would continue its deliberation on Wednesday, too, would finalize a set of courses for the four-year programme. This would enable the holders of the proposed degree to gain access to benefits enjoyed by engineers in government service, said a participant of the curricula revision committee on Tuesday.
The NCRC meeting was chaired by Dr Abdul Qadeer of the Karachi University, while Dr Naimat A. Rizvi of the Institute of Industrial and Electronic Engineering acted as secretary. In all, nine members belonging to different higher educational institutions participated in the meeting.
Presently, the University of Peshawar is offering Electronics as an elective subject at the BSc level, while the KU and Quaid-i-Azam University offer two-year MSc degree courses with specialization in the same subject. University of Sindh offers a four-year education in the discipline leading to a Masters degree.
The NCRC, in its meeting held in 1998, had also recommend renaming the KU’s Department of Applied Physics, which conducts MSc courses in electronics, as the Department of Electronics and Applied Physics, in order to bring it in line with other electronics departments of various universities of the country. However, the matter is still in pending, one of the participants informed Dawn, when contacted.
Sources privy to the proceedings of the meeting said that committee members discussed at length the status of electronics and educational facilities available in this regard. The members felt that a strong indigenous resource base in electronics was absolutely essential for the survival of the country.
It was further expressed in the meeting that the security and defence of the country would remain vulnerable without attaining excellence in the filed.
The IT infrastructure would also remain fragile and dreams of rapid industrial development would never be realized without a large, well-equipped and competent electronics professional, noted the meeting.
It was further agreed that the current scene in the field of electronics in the country was dismal. The country has inadequate manpower resources, scanty industrial or manufacturing units, very few research and development organizations and virtually no integrated policy or plan for human resource development in the vital field of national interest, the meeting noted.
The committee recommended that a large number of electronics professional be trained at all levels, i.e. academic, engineering, technical and support within the next few years to establish a substantial indigenous resource base. Electronics should also be declared as a professional subject such as Computer Sciences and Information Technology, he added.
It was further resolved that Electronics be introduced as a subject at the BSc level such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science in all the provinces of the country.
The committee also suggested appropriate funding by the federal and provincial governments for the development of electronics laboratories in universities and colleges.
The meeting also stressed for appointment of electronic professionals, one each from the general and engineering side, on the board of governors and curriculum committee of the technical education boards in the country.
The committee also suggested the appointment of qualified technical personnel, at least in Grade-16, with B.Tech qualifications, in colleges and universities to manage electronics laboratories, added the source.
