[Pakistan] Questions raised about IT policy

["Irfan Khan" <khania@super.net.pk>]

[Dawn's "IT: The Future of Pakistan" (23-24 Jan 2001)]


Questions raised about IT policy 


By Our Staff Reporter 

KARACHI, Jan 23: An academic from the Republic of Ireland discussed 
in some detail the Pakistan's information technology policy. He was 
speaking during one of the sessions of the IT symposium held on 
Tuesday. 

The academic - Diarmuid Hegarty of the Griffith College, Dublin - 
informed the audience that continued stress on good education had 
made his country one of the biggest exporters of software. The Irish 
had recognized the importance of IT as early as the 70s and sound 
policies were adopted then. 

He said that the Pakistani IT graduates were as good as any in the 
world. Mr Hegarty, however, stated that Pakistan's tax incentive 
package was not as strong as that of his own country. 

The academic said Pakistan should perhaps attach more importance to 
the peripherals and telecommunications etc. "These areas offer 
comparative advantage to developing countries, like Pakistan." 

Mr Hegarty was of the view that standardization of curriculums could 
prove counterproductive. "There may be a tendency here to rest for 
two years after curriculums are standardized once. This could be 
dangerous since during the years the bureaucrats and academics are 
resting the originally standardized curricula will become outdated." 
There should be some standardization but some room should be allowed 
for innovation so that new courses could be designed and offered, 
ensuring vibrancy in the IT education sector. 

He suggested that the Pakistani IT institutions should move away from 
employing the lecture-based "chalk-and-talk" method of teaching 
students, specially where the classrooms are overcrowded. Ideally one 
group should have only 30 to 40 students. 

Mr Hegarty also raised questions about the government's proposed 
accreditation body. "An element of subjectivity may creep into the 
decision-making of such a body at some point of time." 

He suggested an alternative system under which the IT students took 
national examinations every year. "A rating of the institutions could 
be made on the basis of the institutions' performance. Such a system 
will be objective in nature." 

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Hamza Matin, stated that there was a 
lot of hype about IT but it was not clear yet if the vision would be 
realized or not. 

"In Pakistan we lack good business sense as well as funds to make our 
dreams come true." 

He, however, said that like the Gold Rush of California the 
enthusiasm in Pakistan about IT would be beneficial in more ways than 
one. 

William Tiga Tita, a senior official of the Group of 77 nations, 
invited Pakistani entrepreneurs to enter into meaningful e-business - 
that is business on line - with the 133 countries he represented. He 
described in detail his portals and websites. 

Mr Tita said that e-business 'deconstructed' the traditional "value 
chains" and then reconstructed these in new fashions. He said that 
the elimination of middlemen was one example of the 'deconstruction' 
of the "value chains". 



http://www.dawn.com/2001/01/24/nat1.htm