KARACHI, Feb 10: The Sindh government on Monday dropped the holding of the information technology examination as a compulsory subject in the current intermediate examination, authoritative sources said.
The IT examination has been deferred for one year, and it would now be an “optional” subject this year. The Sindh chief minister has already okayed a summary in this regard.
It was declared a compulsory subject by the Sindh government in 2001 when it was asked by the Centre to make the IT a compulsory subject.
The Sindh education department was bent upon holding the examination despite an uproar by the students who were bewildered as to how they could be appearing in the examination when the government educational institutions themselves were not fully equipped.
Sources said the change in the government stance came only after the intervention of the Sindh education minister, Irfanullah Marwat, who took up the matter with the chief minister, Sardar Ali Mohammad Mahar.
The CM was suggested to drop the IT as a compulsory subject, as the government itself had failed to ensure the requisite facilities to each and every student of intermediate in the province. The examination in the IT was to commence for the first time under different educational boards in April.
The Sindh education department on Monday notified that with the approval of the competent authority, the Information Technology subject had been made optional for the current academic year (2002-2003) at intermediate level for all groups. “However for the next Academic Year (2003-2004), it will be a compulsory subject for the intermediate students for all groups”, added the notification.
According to the plan, about 90,000 intermediate students of government colleges and higher secondary schools in the province enrolled with different educational boards in 2001 were supposed to take their IT examination as compulsory subject, along with other subjects, this year.
While the education department wanted to see its IT plan implemented on a war footing, there were certain reservations and doubts expressed by the relevant quarters who lamented the non-availability of facilities.
Amid controversies, in a report to the Sindh education department, city Nazim Naimatullah Khan had mentioned that he was satisfied with the arrangements for the IT classes at intermediate level in city colleges and as such he did not see any reason for deferring the examination during the current session i.e. HSC 2003 annual examination.
Under the new strategy, students would now be allowed to take their current examination as an optional paper only on their choice, with the condition that the marks secured in the IT subject would not matter for their grading in the examinations.
This year students taking the IT examinations would be issued a separate certificate, reflecting the marks they obtained in the subject, said sources in the education department.
The students who have taken the IT theory and practical education as per educational board’s courses of study, can appear in the IT annual examination, said an educational board’s official.
In the meantime, in order to appreciate the extra efficiency of students, the Sindh education department has planned to award seven cash prizes for those appearing and securing highest marks in IT optional examination for the year.
The awards worth Rs 50000, Rs 40000, Rs 30000, Rs 20000, Rs 15000, Rs 10000 and Rs 50000, would be given to first seven highest scorers in the HSC IT examination of every educational board in the province this year.
The motive behind the award system is to promote the IT literacy among college students as it was the order of the modern day, added the official.