ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: The government will set up 1,000 computer labs at a cost of Rs1.4 billion in the country, including AJK, FANA and FATA.

At least 2,000 people, including teachers of different schools, will be employed and trained to run these labs.

A meeting presided over by the federal minister for IT and Telecom, Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, was told that the federal government as well as provinces would equally share the expenditure. The meeting was also co-chaired the by federal minister for education, Ms Zobaida Jalal, while the minister of state for IT and Telecommunication, Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj, attended the meeting.

It was informed that the project would start early next year and would be implemented in 36 months. It has also been decided that funds for the project will be shared among provinces on the basis of National Economic Council (NEC) formula on the pattern of education sector reforms 2001-05. After the completion of the project all recurring costs will be met by the provinces while the selection of the schools will be made very carefully on the basis of very comprehensive criteria incorporated in the plan.

Most of the provinces have committed to the project while the commitment of one was in the process.

Awais Leghari said at the moment there was a disparity in terms of IT education in urban and rural and less privileged areas.

The project has been launched to bridge this gap and provide the same facility to far-flung areas of the country.

He said a comprehensive criteria would be evolved about the selection and appointment of teachers and tendering process for computer labs to ensure a transparent and merit based system. All appointments will be on contract, school and area specific with preference for the people belonging to the specific union council in which the schools has been set up.

“It will not be practical to employ residents outside the union council areas, as they will remain absent most of the times. If a qualified person from a certain locality was not available, preference should be given to the same district and so on,” he said.

As the success of programme depends on monitoring of the system, a very strong, professional monitoring mechanism will be evolved, he said.

Meanwhile Ms Zobaida Jalal said due share of the project would be given to rural areas and to girl schools. An interprovincial meeting will also be convened immediately to get ownership of provinces in this regard.

She said a pilot project was being launched for a bigger project under which 14,000 schoolteachers would be employed. The bigger project has already been approved by the ECNEC, she said.

It was decided that to avoid duplication, the ministry of education and IT & Telecommunication will work very closely on the project. “The two ministry’s will supplement each other, said Ms Jalal.

A steering committee has also been formed comprising Qaiser Sohail, the director-general of Pakistan Computer Bureau, Dr Irshad Hussain Tirmizi, the JEA, ministry of education, and Prof Dr Haroona Jatoi, the JEA ministry of education, to workout different details and submit a feasibility for each province within a week.