Urgent revamping of Pakistani education system emphasised

Islamabad : A leading Saudi educator has called for the revamping of Pakistani education system on urgent basis.

“Schools in Pakistan are following in centuries-old education system which needs to be updated. The classrooms are not producing brains required to handle future challenges and benefit from opportunities,” Omar Farooqui, founder of Coded Minds - a Dubai based premier educational technology company, told 'The News'.

Mr Farooqui, who was in Islamabad to meet President Dr Arif Alvi, said it was heartening to see that the Pakistani government, especially the president, was committed to bringing change in the education system.

"The president is doing a lot to bring education technology in classrooms across the country. We are there to support the government by all means and will be the part of this exciting journey of modernising education in Pakistan," he said.

The Saudi educator said in the first quarter of the current year, he would start technology courses for school students as well as for young adults across Pakistan.

“We will integrate technology, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and other coding languages in the school curriculum and train the children to innovate,” he said.

Mr Farooqui said he informed the president that his team was currently doing a pilot project with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Arab Pakistani School in Abu Dhabi, where he was integrating technology in the school curriculum.

“It has been going well. Pakistani children are so talented and innovative, they are picking technology so quickly and enjoying a lot,” he said.

The Saudi educator said his contribution to the efforts meant for improving the Pakistani education system was a gesture of love from a Saudi brother to Pakistanis. “Both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are together with each other in all seasons. It will be an honour for me to empower Pakistani children with the right education,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi also appreciated Mr Farooqui for supporting the Pakistani government’s initiatives to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy.

"It's really encouraging to see technology experts considering Pakistan as a destination of technology advancement.

"The government considers digitalisation to be a catalyst to achieve transparency, efficiency, and endeavours to build a culture of innovation and research," he told the Saudi educator in a meeting.

The president said the government was reviewing education methods to align them with the latest development skills and tools based on technology.

He said if used correctly, education and technology could create a self-perpetual growth wheel for the country in the years to come.

"In this era of innovation and information, it is the vision of the government to maximise the opportunities in digital space and create enabling environment for Pakistani youths to equip them with technological know-how," he said.

The president said the Presidential Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Computing was one of the programmes meant for training one million youths in the field of information technology.

He asked foreigners, especially Saudis, to explore the possibility of making joint ventures and collaborations with the relevant Pakistani entities.