STAFF REPORT IBD: While taking an initiative towards regulating as well as promoting technological education in the country, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has at last decided to establish Pakistan Technology Council (PTC).

“Pakistan needs to have more technological access and the country’s universities need to develop their respective curriculum as per requirements of international standards to promote technical education,” a senior official of the HEC disclosed to his scribe on condition of anonymity. According to him, the decision to established PTC was taken at a recently held meeting of the Commission.

The HEC also plans to hold an important meeting with the heads of Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences (IUCPSS) in Pakistan, a country’s first ever inter university alliance formed by nine leading universities of Pakistan on September 15. Member institutions of Inter University Consortium included Islamia University Bahawalpur, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Quaid-e Azam University (QAU), University of Gujrat, University of Balochistan Quetta, GC University Faisalabad, Institute of Management Sciences (IMS) Peshawar, and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad.

The sources revealed that status of the Council will be autonomous and will work under the supervision of Board of Directors and Advisory Board, comprising renowned and experienced social scientists from academia, civil society and research and development organisations.

The Council will control, register and promote B.Tech Engineers, Engineering Technologists, Graduates across the country and also promote the revolution of Engineering Technology in Pakistan like our neighbouring countries like China, Sir Lanka and India. These states are far ahead than Pakistan in technological education, which is based both on theory and practice, while technological education has always been neglected in Pakistan, despite the fact that the subject has now become the basic pillar of the Information Technology.

“PSBTE (Pakistan Society of B.Tech Engineers) and BTAC (B.Tech Action Committee) still having some objections but they fully agreed except merger with PEC unless, its name is changed as Pakistan Engineering and Technology Council by the government,” said Engr Waseem Raja, Pakistan Society of B.Tech Engineers, while commenting on this development.

Earlier, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology had signaled to establish a separate Pakistan Technology Council (PTC) for registering th B.Tech graduates and safeguarding their interests and rights.

It is to be mentioned here that the B.Tech graduates have been deprived of access to higher studies, job opportunities in public departments and promotions due to undefined status of their degree and it was their longstanding demand to establish PTC.

All B.Tech Graduates want no more interference of PEC in PTC and according to HEC notification that Degree of B.Tech (Hons) is not similar to BE/BSc Engg and both streams be considered as two distinct disciplines of knowledge and should run parallel to each other.

The B.Tech holders study the same courses like engineers and are equally competent but they have to struggle and file cases individually to recognize their degree status.

Now the B.Tech graduates hope that their problems will be resolved and it will help register technology graduates, control technology institutions and eliminate discrimination regarding higher education, job opportunities and scale promotion. Over 10,000 B.Tech graduates complete their degrees from different institutes annually and start their struggle in the market for jobs and most of them have to go abroad for jobs, he observed.

Experts are of the opinion that in Pakistan, where about 90 per cent of the machines are imported, operated and maintained, B-Tech graduates have more practical experience of handling the equipment that the B.Sc engineers, having skills only of designing machines, have very little scope in the country.

By Web Team

Technology Times Web team handles all matters relevant to website posting and management.