Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday stressed the need for capacity building of youth in advanced computing education, as digitalized education could play an important role in achieving the national goal of development and prosperity. He expressed these views while chairing a committee meeting of the National Computing Education Accreditation Council (NCEAC), which was attended among others by Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema, Minister of State for Information Technology Shaza Fatima, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Mukhtar Ahmed and senior officials of the Ministry of Planning. Ahsan Iqbal said the country needed to focus on teachers’ training along with curriculum education, regretting that students were still being taught a 100-year-old curriculum. He said, “We need to increase capacity in the field of advanced computing. An action plan should be made to become signatories of accords.” The minister emphasized the need to train teachers to improve the quality of education in line with modern requirements. “There are many opportunities available in digital computing and hardware. Equipping the youth with the jewel of education is the most important need of the hour,” he said, stressing that no society could develop without education. He noted that Pakistan had no shortage of talented youth, who have proven their mettle in the field of information technology globally. The minister said that it was the responsibility of the council to select the best experts, as “we have to not only educate the youth but also equip them with modern skills.” He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed that merit and transparency be ensured in the selection of the chairman of the NCEAC and that talented youth be included on a merit basis by adopting international standards.
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