ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: Ministry of Information Technology (IT) in collaboration with provincial and AJK governments would set up computer laboratories at 1,098 schools and colleges across the country , which will cover 11 per cent educational institutions.

This was stated by Federal Minister for Information Technology Owais Ahmad Khan Leghari while presiding over a meeting of ministerial review of the project titled "IT/computer science teachers, lab in-charges and computer labs project - matching programme with the provinces".

The meeting was attended by Education Minister Lt-Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi (retired), AJK Education Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Aziz, Sindh Education Minister Dr Hameeda Khoro, IT Secretary Khalid Saeed, provincial education secretaries and IT officials.

"The tendering process and the purchase of equipment must be completed by the end of this year so that these labs become functional for the start of next academic session in March 2005", the minister said.

The project was approved by Ecnec on January 7 at a cost of Rs1841.130 million. The ministry of IT will provide 50 per cent of the funds while the rest of the amount would be contributed by the provincial and AJK governments.

Under the project, 1,098 IT teachers, lab in-charges and computer labs are being provided to 1,098 government high schools, higher secondary schools and inter colleges in all provinces, AJK, Fata, Fana and ICT at the levels of Class IX to XII.

Mr Leghari also directed the Pakistan Computer Bureau, and provincial bodies to recruit IT teachers from within the local council where the school was located or from the Tehsil if the teacher with required qualification was not available, to promote employment at the grass roots level.

The number of teachers to be recruited is, 515 in the Punjab, 206 in Sindh, 169 in NWFP, 95 in Balochistan, 26 each in AJK, Fata, Fana and 35 in Islamabad Capital Territory.