| Workshop
on the "Role of ICTs for Rural Development"
and launching of the first District web site for Mardan |
April
3, 2001 |
PESHAWAR:
"Distance-learning education through the use of Internet
in our educational institutions is the only cost-effective
panacea for the modernisation of the province traditional
way of teaching". This was stated by Provincial Minister
for Industries, Commerce, Science and Technology, Mineral
Development, Labour & Transport, Owais Ahmad Ghani while
inaugurating a one-day workshop on the "Role of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Rural Development"
and launching of the first-ever District web site for Mardan
in the checkered history of NWFP on Tuesday at IRSP, Mardan.
The workshop was jointly organized by IUCN, The World Conservation
Union, SDNP and IRSP.
The
minister promised that we are planning to install a network
of computers with Internet connections in all the government
schools and trying to change the medium of instruction from
Urdu to English language. He warned that without proper
medium of instruction and effective strategy for education,
the Information Technology will lead us to a further sharpening
of the class difference between the haves and have-nots
in the society. He lauded the role of IUCN-SDNP for developing
the first-ever website (www.mardan.sdnpk.org)
for Mardan District.
To
mark this historic event, speakers from various walks of
life delivered their lectures on the concept and potential
of ICTs for rural areas. Chairman Department of Journalism
& Mass Communication, Dr. Shah Jahan Sayed stressed
on the establishment of Community Radios on the Internet
especially for the illiterate or semi-literate masses of
the remote areas. He appreciated SDNP for taking the initiative
to bring Mardan District, the hub of one-time Ghandhara
civilization, on the information super-highway.
Saleemullah
Khan and Abid Hussain from IUCN-SDNP spoke on the strategy
for establishing cyber community centres in the remote rural
areas and its potential in the fields of health, education
and good governance while Tahir Islam Nizami and Mukhtar
A. Khan practically demonstrated before the participants
on the proper uses of ICTs for the socio-economic uplift
of rural communities.
Earlier,
Abid Ullah Jan, Chief Executive IRSP welcomed the guests
and briefed them upon the unique structure and functioning
of IRSP simultaneously working at the micro, meso and macro
levels in the regional communities. The District web site
for Mardan (www.mardan.sdnpk.org
) which was launched today, carries valuable information
on the culture, geography, administrative setup, health,
agriculture, industries, education and time-old Ghandara
civilization including the world-renowned ruins of Takht
Bhai, Shahbaz Ghari, Sawal Dher and Jamal Ghari.
Based
on SDNP's press release, a news item was carried by the
daily "Nation" on 5th April, 2001, http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/today/national/oth5.htm
