Abdul Rashid Shakir
arshakir.cmo@gmail.com
The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) of the 21st century, characterized by rapid
advances in the cutting edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine
Learning, Robotics, Augmented and Virtual Realities has resulted in a paradigm
shift in the ways we produce, consume, think and even interact with others. The
very fascinating memories of the Digital Revolution of the 1990s have lost steam.
Things like ChatGPT, Self-driving cars, Face and Speech Recognition softwares,
Virtual Personal Assistants and Internet of Things (IoT) were unheard-of not a very
long time ago. Freelancing, remote work, flexi office hours and the ‘fatal’ intrusion
of social media in our lives are corollaries of these changing tech trends that have
shook our work ethics and social interaction values to the core.
Working knowledge of high-tech devices like smartphones, tablets, PCs, smart
watches and digital cameras have become central to digital literacy in modern
times. World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs Report 2023’ explores how tech
trends will shape our workplace in future. It finds that analytical and creative
thinking, AI and big data will be the top in-demand skills by 2027. 06 in 10 workers
will require training before 2027, signifying the importance of life-long learning by
the modern workforce in order to keep them relevant in the ever-changing job
market.
In a right desire to keep pace with these changing job market trends, Punjab
Government under the progressive leadership of its Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz
Sharif is all set to exploit wonders of the modern technology by laying focus on
market-driven technical skills and education sector reforms.
The start of Pakistan’s first IT City: Nawaz Sharif IT City is a right step in the right
direction. Nawaz Sharif IT City features in IT & Tech District, an Education City and
a Film City. The Government of Punjab has declared the project tax-free for 10
years in order to lure in huge investments both local and foreign. Major tech giants
of the world including 16 Chinese tech companies have not only given their
consent to work with Pakistan’s first IT City, but 08 of them are immediately ready
to establish their business offices here. Well-reputed international educational
institutions are being convinced to set up their campuses in Nawaz Sharif IT City,
so that our youth could get rewarding international degrees in their own beloved
homeland, Pakistan.
To fulfill the need of quality human resource, ably-trained in the modern highlytech skills and vocational trades, the Government has also started restructuring of
Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) in order to enable
it run market-driven advanced training courses in the fields like artificial
intelligence, robotics, machine learning, augmented and virtual realities etc
instead of the old conventional trades like plumbing, refrigeration and motor
winding. It has also started imparting advanced training to 4000 young boys and
girls under Chief Minister’s Skill Development Programme.
In order to promote a culture of research and higher education in youth,
Government of Punjab has announced multiple programs including foreign
undergrad scholarship program for the talented but deserving students across
Punjab, besides augmenting the existing undergrad scholarship Programs in the
local universities under Punjab Education Endowment Fund (PEEF). It has also
announced the grant of iPads and laptops to the talented students, besides
providing them 20,000 bikes (E-bikes and petrol bikes) on interest free easy
monthly installments.
The Government of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif fully understands the
need of a quality school education system to better reap the fruits of higher
education outcomes, because ‘GIGO (Garbage in Garbage Out)’ is a proven
maxim. Therefore, it has started a comprehensive program of school education
reforms. It includes outsourcing of some 13000 non-performing or underperforming schools out of the total 49000 public sector schools in Punjab.
The Government is focused on complete overhaul of the education system in the
province, for which it is not only categorizing schools on the basis of their
performance but is also devising workable model to engage private sector in the
quality uplift of overall teaching-learning exercise in public sector schools of the
Province. Moreover, it has also launched teachers’ training program in the
province. Another sore point of the school education sector in Punjab is reflected
in a recent report of Pakistan Institute of Education, prepared in collaboration with
UNESCO, that Punjab has 10.11 million Out-of-School children (OSC). In order to
fix this issue, Punjab has started a school enrolment Programme.
Another major speed trap in the development of kids’ cognitive abilities is the
prevalence of stunting and malnutrition in a greater number of kids across the
province. Therefore, the Government has planned to start giving nutritious milk
packs to the students of primary classes in public sector schools. This valuable
intervention of Punjab Government would not only spur creative thinking and
analytical abilities of the students but would also equip them with the courage
and stamina needed to undertake challenging assignments in life.
To wrap up the discourse, we can rightly claim that these quality interventions in
the education sector, besides shifting focus of skill training from conventional to
high-end technical trades, would no doubt go a long way in raising a productive
human resource that would be instrumental in the socio-economic development
of the province, acting as its real asset instead of being a precarious liability.
