|
|
|
Body formed to monitor computer programmes
THE Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved the establishment of a National Computing Education Accreditation Council (NCEAC) to have a check on computing programmes offered in the country.
The initiative is part of a plan to improve the quality of higher education, said an official statement last week. The establishment of the council was recommended by the ministry of information technology and telecommunication aimed to meet the needs of the software/IT industry, parents and the public seeking information about programmes in computer science, information technology, software engineering, etc.
Accreditation protects and promotes the interest of all stakeholders: parents, students, faculty, administrators, employers and taxpayers. It is essential that the institutions offering programmes in the computing discipline adhere to an internationally acceptable and industrially viable set of criteria.
The council will be responsible for the accreditation of educational programmes leading to degrees in the computing disciplines. It will annually publish a ranking of all the programmes being conducted by various institutions.
The establishment of the council had been proposed by the National Curriculum Review Committee of Computer Science with representation from all the public and private sector universities.
The council will have representatives of the software industry, Pakistan Software Houses Association, Software Export Board, provincial governments, ministries of science and technology, information technology and telecommunications, the HEC as well as subject experts in the relevant areas.
It will constitute inspection committees to visit each institution and will carry out an academic audit based on internationally accepted criteria for accreditation.
Participants at the end of the two-day “5th Annual Conference 2004” organized by the Infection Control Society of Pakistan recommended establishment of infection control committees at all hospitals in the country. It also stressed on the health education of community.
Prof Syed Azhar Ahmed, the vice-chancellor of Baqai Medical University and the chief guest of the conference highlighted the significance of food and effective communication skills among healthcare providers.
Referring to the recently conducted “Knowledge, Practice and Attitude Study,” he dispelled the impression that media could be any better than direct contact between human beings.
He said that doctors were the worst communicators, because though having a lot of knowledge about infections, they failed to disseminate it to patients. “The health education of community is very much needed and awareness should be created among the masses about infections,” he added.
Elaborating his stance, he said the very study based on firsthand interviews with community members established that a mere eight per cent of people comprehended the importance of EPI awareness through television, another 30 per cent through radio, and the remaining through advise of health personnel including lady health workers, paramedics, nurses and doctors.
Dr Khurshid Hashmi, the general secretary of the ICSP presented these recommendations with reference to presentations made by senior medical experts during the conference. He said it had generally emerged that hospitals were bacteria-resistant, making it extremely difficult to treat patients with antibiotics. — Sci-tech World Report
|
|
|
|
