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ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication has recommended reducing phone registration fee, import duty on laptops and mobile phones as many people have neither access to online classes nor can afford to buy these facilities.

The committee, which met with Rubina Khalid in the chair here on Thursday, directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to inform the committee in this regard, and reduce the import duty as well as the phone registration fee to make it cheaper, and ensure access to online classes and examinations as people cannot afford to buy these facilities.

The committee also recommended that the government will have to provide subsidy for the provision of these facilities due to lack of purchasing power of the people.

The committee observed that the towers of various network services are reportedly sold to foreigners, and if this is true, it will be a security risk.

Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shehzad Waseem proposed to create Citizen Digital Connectivity Hotspot for immediate solution to the problems in online classes in remote areas during the epidemic to make it easier for people to access digital technology. Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haq told the committee that the country would soon start manufacturing smart phones, which would reduce their prices.

He said a proposal had been tabled in the Cabinet, and the government had directed the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Information Technology to make the IT system cheaper. Further steps have been taken to promote internet in the less-developed areas of the country, which is being worked on to provide maximum 3G and 4G services.

The Standing Committee reviewed in detail the issues faced by students across the country, especially in backward and remote areas, regarding online classes, internet services and online examinations. Rubina Khalid said that the world conditions had changed due to the coronavirus epidemic. Educated generation is the guarantee of a bright future of any country. It is unfortunate that people have reservations about business but no voice is being raised for education of the children of the country, she added.

Educational institutes are shut for the last several months, where children were trained other than teaching.

A strategy should be adopted to make the process of teaching children effective. There are a lot of problems with online classes and exams.

When many people use the internet at the same time, there are problems in the system, just as there were problems in the election results, she added.

In this regard, the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication should formulate an effective mechanism so that children can have better educational opportunities. She said that many people do not have access to online classes and many people cannot afford to buy these facilities.

The committee observed that the biggest problem is at the level of government schools where the children of poor people are studying who cannot afford to buy phones and laptops, and the teachers of these schools are not so efficient. In order to benefit effectively through online classes, training of teachers for online classes is also essential. Dr Waseem said that the creation of Citizen Connectivity Hotspots would lead to better results in remote areas where internet facility and technology is not available everywhere.

This will not only address these challenges but also improve the quality of education and make it easier for children to access school classes.

He also said that the steps taken by the government for Digital Pakistan would be further expanded to make it easier for the common man to access smart phones and digital devices.

In this regard, the smartphone manufacturing project launched by the government will have far-reaching results, he added. The government's focus on digital technology has also led to better results during Covid-19, he said, adding that work on expanding Digital Pakistan needs to be stepped up as it is now clear that one of the biggest benefits to National Command and Operations Center during the Covid-19 challenge has been the availability of digital technology.

The same technology has not only enabled digital tracking, but has also made it possible to identify areas most affected by coronavirus and better connectivity between relevant agencies and hospitals.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020

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