By Syed Wahaj Ahmed
Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh on Information Science and Technology Tanzila Umi Habiba announced that Sindh Chief minister nodded approval of University of Sindh (SU)’s campus in Matli where three disciplines of the varsity would be offered initially.
“Sindh Chief Minister had given her good news a day ago regarding the grant of approval of Sindh University campus in Matli, where the admissions will initially be offered in three significant disciplines like English, IT and LLB (Hons),” she said.
She said this while visiting various public and private universities of Sindh with her six-member delegation with a view to reviewing the pilot skill development training course initiated under IT Industry Academia Bridge Programme on the campus. She announced that the unprivileged youth coming from far-flung areas of the province for the training course will be given stipends. She said that the purpose of the IT programme was to bridge the gap between universities and industries and provide trained youth to the private organisations, which will benefit industrial institutions on the one hand and provide jobs to the youth of Sindh on the other hand.
“This will help reduce poverty in the province. This will bring great benefit in the future,” she said and added that the government did not have enough jobs to provide employment to every youth for which the programme had been launched.
She said that youth could get best jobs in industrial establishments by getting relevant training.
“The prevailing era is the era of acquiring technical skills and the ability can only be acquired by the youth, who will have the desire to learn something and get the best employment in the private sector in the days to come,” she said.
She said that those universities of the province will be included in the programme in future, which would impart the skill development to their students. She said that the solution to the prevailing runaway inflation was to bring more and more young people to the IT sector and to conduct training courses in the field of information technology by including the matriculation and intermediate passed youths as well.
SU IT Department Head Dr Zeeshan Bhatti briefed her and her team at the registrar’s office regarding the completion of the 16-day training of the first ever batch of students under the IT programme.
Meanwhile, in Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam, Tanzila expressed her concerns over the possibility of food crisis in the future and termed that by modernizing agriculture.
“We can prevent food and economic crisis, while by linking agriculture with the IT sector we can promote modern agriculture,” she said this while speaking to students taking training under the IT programme.
Tanzila said that Sindh government’s IT and agricultural sector are working together on the intervention of technology in agriculture, “while we are on the same page in SAU regarding various projects in this regard. We have to convince our farmers that there is no other way except for adopting modern technologies and modern agriculture to double production now and secure food in the future.”
SAU Vice Chancellor Dr Fateh Marri said that there is a large number of youth in the country, and there are innumerable career opportunities for the youth in the joint ventures of IT and agriculture sectors.
He said that the graduates are promoting agri-tech and have also developed many new ideas in their projects, which are related to agricultural development, agri-business, smart agriculture, remote sensing, and agricultural monitoring. He said that issues which are being addressed consist of farming community, and designing the courses keeping in mind modern agriculture methods and modern technology.
Moreover, in Isra University Hyderabad, Tanzila Umi Habiba met students who successfully completed their training courses under IT programme offered by Hazza Institute of Technology in collaboration with the Sindh Ministry of Information, Science & Technology.
“I am truly impressed by the enthusiasm and passion shown by the students in completing their training courses. You are the future leaders in the fields of information, science, and technology, and I have no doubt that you will contribute immensely to the progress of our province and country,” Habiba said this during lauding dedication of students.
Chief Executive Director of Isra University Daud Amir Channa emphasized the significance of such collaborative initiatives between academia and the government, stating: “We are honored to host this remarkable event, which highlights the importance of bridging the gap between education and technology. It is through such partnerships that we can empower our students with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in a rapidly advancing world.”
