August 17, 2006	Thursday	Rajab 21, 1427

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LAHORE, Aug 16: Punjab Information Technology Board chairman Rizwan Sheikh has said the curriculum for Intermediate in Computer Science (ICS) needs to be revised to meet the modern-day requirements.

Speaking to reporters after the inauguration ceremony of the National Information Technology Literacy Programme (NITLP) organised by the Punjab University College of Information Technology on its campus on Wednesday, Mr Sheikh said the PITB had sent its suggestions to the ICS policy committee for consideration and inclusion in the curriculum.

He said the PITB was doing different projects in the public sector including automation of land record as well as of the government departments. He said the board was also working with different educational institutions and other organisations to conduct research and development for IT and telecom sectors.

He said the Punjab government had also launched a project to establish a Punjab Software Technology Park that would help create thousands of jobs for IT graduates in the country. He said the construction of the 17-storey building would begin on Oct 1 this year.

Mr Sheikh also said the PITB in collaboration with other educational institutions had imparted basic computer skills training to some 8,000 people during the last 10 months. He said the board had planned to impart training to another 8,000 people during the next one year. It was also training the people on how to do call centre job.

Earlier, speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the PITB chairman said the board in collaboration with its partners was imparting basic computer skills training to the masses on demand. He said the NITLP was a demand-based programme launched in collaboration with different educational institutions, including the PUCIT.

He said some 150 schoolteachers and officials of the Directorate of Staff Development (DSD) and the EDO offices were attending the six-day training course. The teachers having the knowledge of basic computer skills would be posted in schools where computer labs were being established.

He said the computer labs were being established in 550 high schools under the Education Sector Reforms Programme in the province.

The PITB chairman stressed that the PUCIT students should continue updating their computer knowledge even after securing their graduation degrees. He said it was highly important to learn new computer tools to get good jobs in the market at home and abroad.

PUCIT principal Dr Mansoor Sarwar said the college had joined hands with the PITB for the cause of community service and develop a sense of community service among college faculty and students.

He also urged the training course participants to spread the IT knowledge among their colleagues in schools.

PUCIT faculty member Farhan Sherazi also spoke on the occasion.