ISLAMABAD, June 7: If properly and intelligently harnessed, technology can prove instrumental in making basic educational facilities available to vast number of children, who are growing up without exercising their fundamental right to acquire basic primary education.

Experts, activists and researchers from the field of education made these observations during the five-day long workshop jointly organized by Asia Foundation and USAID on “Exploring the use of technology in basic education” held from June 3 to 7.

The secretary education Dr Tariq Farooq spoke about the ways to make use of technology in basic education in the country. “In this age and time, technological advancement in the field of communication, information and satellites is shaping and reshaping all aspects of life and education sector is no exception”.

He said, “In Pakistan where provision of primary education is an uphill task for the government it is vital to maximize the potential of technological tools like radio, TV and internet for the promotion of basic education.”

Elaborating the advantages of educational programmes on electronic medium, he said many countries have successfully taught their children through the electronic medium and Pakistan should do the same, if illiteracy was to be eradicated.

Stressing the need for initiating reforms in education sector, he emphasized the urgency for building public-private partnership, which should use its energy and resources for creating a useful educational environment in the country.

Endorsing the views of other speakers, he said basic education needs substantial uplift and one important component of basic education strategy should be based on technological-driven education initiatives besides developing linkages between stakeholders who could set up resource centers in the country.

Educationist Bela Jamil appreciated the government’s plan to decentralize the overstaffed education bureaucracy while citing the launch of adopt-a-scheme for the promotion of education at grassroots level.

“Right to basic education must be respected if country wants to compete and survive in an era of information and knowledge- based global market, she asserted.

She called for aggressive use of technology and more focused approach in laying out and implementation part of a long-term plan to eliminate illiteracy and spread basic education in the country.

The Asia Foundation country representative Mr Andrew Julius said, “Shared values and diverse experiences could go a long way in addressing the problems, which would make Pakistan self-satisfied in terms of providing basic education to majority of population.”

Talking about the role of NGOs and specially USAID, he said US government’s support for the promotion of education in the country has produced good results.

David Haiselbal from DFID, a UK-based NGO noted, “Lack of education in country merits full attention by all those concerned with the well-being of Pakistan.

He stressed for a more meaningful official response in meeting the challenge of teachers training, modernized curricula and clear plan for awareness among instructors who could effectively use technology related tools for the easy promotion of basic education.

While presenting his concluding remarks, the deputy secretary of the ministry of education, Sarfaraz Syed praised the input provided by the NGOs directed at revitalizing the education sector at basic level in the light of helpful modern technology.

Other speakers included from NGOs such as Sudhar, Sahil and Himat from Punjab, Bright and Bhanbali from Sindh, Kandkor from NWFP and BRSP from Balochistan.

—Ziaur Rehman Hashmi