Zubair Qureshi
Minister for Federal Education & Professional Training, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui inaugurated on Friday an IT park, an art gallery and a self-grooming classroom at the Islamabad Model College for Girls (Post-Graduate Margalla College for Women), F-7/4.
He also cut the ribbon to launch Open House at the college which has been a result of the collaborative and consistent efforts by the Education Ministry, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), IT Ministry and of course the college students, staff and the principal Prof Ayesha Kayani.
Federal Secretary for Education, Mohyuddin Wani while briefing the minister about the project said it marked a significant milestone in promoting a vibrant tech ecosystem in Islamabad. Apart from PG College Margalla there are four other colleges where these Software Technology Parks will be set up and the students, particularly girls will have direct access to various IT companies and will submit their projects.
This will also serve to establish academia-industry linkages, he said. The five IT parks established in model colleges are not just physical spaces, they are communities, platforms, and catalysts for growth, he further said.
Minister Siddiqui displayed keen interest and visited the e-Rozgar centre where different IT companies are allocated spaces against nominal fees to encourage, recruit (as intern) and offer jobs/projects etc to the students of BS IT, Economics and other faculties after passing out or during the course of studies. At the newly established art gallery, he praised the creative skills of the PGC Margalla and took keen interest in the pencil sketches, miniature paintings and portraits by the college students and announced cash prizes for them.
The Federal Secretary on the occasion highlighted various steps and initiatives aimed at equipping boys and girls of Islamabad schools and colleges with advanced education methods and modules.
“We are converting Islamabad’s 56 schools (including girls’ schools) into high impact technology hubs where they will be trained to learn AI-based IT courses and find their place in the world.
The criteria for selection is purely on merit and the students will be taken as internees by the national and international IT firms, Wani further said. About the upgradation of schools and colleges of Islamabad, he said all of them will be overhauled and the children, teachers and their parents will encounter newly-furbished buildings, classrooms, auditorium halls, laboratories and libraries when they return to their schools after the summer vacations end. Moreover, 100 schools in rural areas of Islamabad where the electricity system is faulty are converting to solar systems.
