Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. Every other day revolutionary advancements are announced. Chat GPT is new in the row. Digitals file movement and work-from-home have already been implemented in many organisations in Pakistan.
When it comes to education, thanks to COVID online education has also been experimented by almost all institutions in the country having necessary equipment. Technology has the potential to transform the education system 360 degrees. It can replace all the resources now required for education. It can replace all the essentials like classroom, table, blackboard etc.Tried software, Tested IT equipment, efficient connectivity infrastructure and quality content is all what is required for the IT based education in vogue.
We run education department especially in Baluchistan with thousands of Human resource. Considerable size of the employed HR are ghost employees. We do not have any check over rest of the employees if they are attending school on time or not. We obviously have no check over what is taught and how it is taught. Good pedagogy therefore is a distant goal for us.
All of us have know people in immediate or extended circles who take pride in the introduction that they take salary from education department against no or minimum work. Stories of closed schools, being run by incompetent teachers and people who actually do not want to serve are common.
These problems to some extent were actual problems till the revolution of Information technology had not dawned. Problems more complex than this has been solved by the revolution. Traditional file, over which the empire of red tapism was built has been completely eliminated by IT. File is created moved and saved in soft.
Solutions of our education problems is already available, it is just reluctance and unwillingness on part of department which is hurdle. Biometric attendance, an economic solution, can tell whom, in which split second, at what location marked attendance but we are not able to install the system. Good quality content development is any easy project to embark on. IT can also be efficiently utilized in examination process. On administration side a purpose built application can replace the whole directorate. Applications have proven potential,they have already replaced bank branches and other offices.
In this context of faster pace development of IT how pointless is the idea of inaugrating buildings for the sake of inauguration, instead of developing new applications, advertising new hirings instead of buying IT equipment. The project of biometric attendance which for instance can reduce the burden ten times its cost is preferred over political hirings which has potential of increasing burden hundreds times its cost.
Some people in favor of states quo have an argument that application of IT in the field will cause unemployment of lets say one hundred thousand persons. Their argument is inherently weak for the reason that future of whole Baluchistan can not be put on stake for employment of smaller portion of Baluchistan. If IT use is in favor of all children of Balochistan we should obviously go for the option. we should in the meanwhile perhaps explore some possible relief for the people who will be disadvantaged.
Some opponents of the IT based solutions argue that physical education has advantages over online alternatives. It surely would be having few benefits but IT based alternatives has hundreds of benefits over conventional methods. In our case IT based education system needs to compared with no system or nonfunctional system, because current system is highly ineffective and is yielding no result.
Provincial government should better without any further delay announce IT based reforms in education system on urgent basis. We are not utilising the solutions which are available on weak arguments tilted in favour of status quo.
