THE Punjab Higher Education Department has started collecting data of students with exceptional academic record across the province for distribution of free laptops among them.
The Punjab government had allocated Rs 2 billion in the budget 2011-2012 for distribution of 100,000 laptops among the students for promotion of information technology.
Sources said the department had started working on the project though it was a bit late unlike other schemes and projects announced in the provincial budget some of which had already started. They added a criterion was being developed so that laptops could be distributed among the eligible students.
The sources further said that though the department had yet to finalise the criterion for award of laptops to students yet there was a consensus that the computers would be distributed among the students having exceptional academic record currently enrolled in BS (Hons) programmes at public sector colleges, in MPhil programmes at the public universities or studying in medical and engineering colleges.
It is pertinent to mention that the Punjab government has been raising the slogan of removing digital divide between the students of private and public educational institutions. The government had, earlier, established computer labs, under the slogan, in more than 4,000 public high and higher secondary schools across the province.
It is also important to mention here that the Punjab Higher Education Department recently also introduced online admissions at selected public colleges across the province. In the first phase, the department selected 24 colleges where admissions for intermediate classes for the new academic session are being made online in the colleges of nine districts. The department aims at expanding this exercise in the coming years.
Academic circles also suggest that the government should direct Punjab Higher Education Department officials to make the department s website accessible to everybody as at the moment only the officials and principals of colleges are allowed to access it. They suggest that the department should post all the necessary information on the website, including admission schedule, foreign and local scholarship opportunities. They also suggest that in order to facilitate college teachers, the department should post information related to transfer/posting, vacant posts and important notifications on the website.
An official of the department, seeking anonymity, said that public sector universities as well as colleges offering 4-years BS (Hons) programmes have been asked to furnish data of students who had secured more than 70 percent marks in examination under semester system and 60 percent marks under annual system of exam in their last examination.
He said it was a huge and complex exercise and would take some time in order to ensure that the facility was provided to the eligible students. The official said that the department would ensure 100 percent transparency in the whole process, adding that the criterion would be finalized once required data was received from colleges and universities.
