HYDERABAD, Feb 15: Sindh Education Minister Dr Hamida Khuhro has observed that the country is lagging behind in the field of IT education which is the key to development in the era of globalization.

Speaking at a function to inaugurate establishment of an “English language laboratory” at the Government Nazareth Girls’ Degree College here on Wednesday, she stressed the need for acquiring IT education.

Lauding efforts of MPA Abdul Rehman Rajput, who financed the laboratory out of his funds, and college principal Mrs Aftab Ahsan Qureshi, the minister said it was a step in the right direction and asked heads of other institutions to emulate the example.

She said her ministry was trying to establish such laboratories in six to 12 higher secondary schools for imparting education to students under a funding programme.

The minister hoped that students of the Nazareth college would contribute towards national income when they would join multinational companies after completing their education.

She called for motivating institutions to establish laboratories of IT and English education and urged students and teachers to realise importance of English and IT education.

Dr Khuhro said exact data of literacy ratio was not available, adding that some said that it was between 11 to 18 per cent while others put it at even 30 per cent.

She said the government was giving priority to IT literacy and had doubled funds for the education sector.

She said people must abhor corruption. “If we have dedicated education officials and heads of education institutions, our children will not lag far behind,” she said. She maintained that enlightened moderation was essential for the country and quoted arson and violence incidents in Lahore which negated this concept.

MPA Rajput proposed that if the adjacent school was attached to the Nazareth college building, its space shortage problem would be solved.

Principal Mrs Qureshi said students of the college had been securing positions right from 1961 and so far 145 positions had been secured by the college students.