The Ministry of IT and Telecom (MoITT) along with Tech Valley Pakistan, Telecom Foundation, and Virtual University are collaborating with Google to launch the CS First program in Pakistan.
The program’s purpose is to introduce computer science skills and concepts in children between the ages of 9 and 14 so they could be digitally appareled with IT expertise to guide the next generation of technological advances and developers.
A ceremony regarding this matter was held at the committee room of the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication on Wednesday. It was attended by the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque, Secretary IT Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui as well as Farhan S. Qureshi, Head of Google South Asia.
As Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication commented, “CS First Program is the comprehension of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of Digital Pakistan and is an important stepping stone in introducing digitalization in Pakistan”. He also said CS First Program will result to be the best platform for Pakistani students.
Farhan S. Qureshi, Head of South Asia at Google also said, “We remain fully committed to the program, and we appreciate the support of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, the Telecom Foundation, and the Virtual University.”
Moreover, Tech Valley being the official trusted country partner for Google for Education, Google Cloud, and Google Workspace has localized the global CS First program in correspondence with the Pakistani context, has organized a detailed plan of execution, and has been in communication with Google’s global CS First team in California to establish they are the same pace of the curriculum.
Umar Farooq, CEO of Tech Valley Pakistan stated, “We have been working with Google in Pakistan since 2017. We want to help the youth of this country to better understand the importance of digital skills and realize the dream of a digital Pakistan”.
This platform will be used in this regard as the “Scratch” platform, a particular tool researched and developed by MIT. As an official Google partner, Tech Valley Pakistan will be assisting the MoITT with the progress of the program, starting from the Telecom Foundation schools.
Syed Zomma Mohiuddin, Managing Director of Telecom Foundation said, “Telecom Foundation embarked upon a transformational educational initiative last year under the name of SEED, which will ensure an expansion in the number of its schools for the underprivileged children as well as uplifting of their facilities and most importantly their digitalization. The Google GS First has come as a great and timely stepping milestone in the accomplishment of the SEED project where it will create the possibility for the underprivileged children to become part of the country’s digital economy”.
Furthermore, Virtual University will provide required facilities on their campuses for training the teachers and the students regarding the introduction of the CS First Program in Pakistan and aiding with on-ground support related to the execution of the program.
“Virtual University has always been a huge promoter of technology and education in Pakistan. We are delighted to become the official part of this Google program that will further help us in playing our role in promoting online education,” said Ehsen Puri, Director of Virtual University.
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