If realised, it will certainly be a huge advantage for a country still attempting to link with the Information Superhighway. It will have far reaching beneficial consequences to the nation as a whole.
In today's environment where globalisation is the buzzword, it is only fair that a wider section of the country's population is provided with the wherewithal to expand the frontiers of their knowledge and catch up with the developments of the modern world.
This is important if we are to forge ahead as an advanced community where knowledge based information is the key. Although we take pride of being a nation with an emerging high literacy rate in Asia, admittedly this has been more or less in a 'literary' sense with the country lagging far behind in skills in development field.
Every time we were churning out the graduates who did not fit into a milieu that called for skills beyond their book knowledge. The objective of the government therefore is to expand computer literacy, which will no doubt offer remedy to this situation and provide an opportunity for our youth to keep abreast with modern trends.
Today, computers have become the mainstay in the commercial field. They have now place in many middle class homes, which is an indication of its profound influence in the lives of many. Today, all major schools have courses in computer studies, which is a healthy trend that will help the students expend their horizons beyond their book knowledge.
With the world leapfrogging in technological advancements breaching established frontiers, we as a country cannot afford to lag behind. There has to be a concerted effort to bring a wide segment into the orbit of advanced knowledge that could be accessed through computers.
What the government should do is, take the computer to the hinterlands to give rural children an opportunity to access to knowledge. The necessary infrastructure for this will have to be built before embarking on such a mission. Above all, conditions should be created to prepare these segments for computer literacy. There should be emphasis on the learning of English, which is the gateway to many frontiers of knowledge.
The government should ensure that competent teachers are handed over this task so that children in ordinary schools are brought at par with the rest. Steps should be taken to provide all schools in the country with computers along with measures to popularise computer education among a wider section of the populace through a vigorous campaign.
The government could also popularise computer use by offering special loan schemes for purchasing computers. What we need increasingly today is a society in tune with modern day trends through access to the outside world. Computer literacy is one way of achieving this.
The e-Governance initiative should be expanded. It should be possible to fill the plethora of forms found in government departments on-line and obtain quick results. Even a person in a remote area will then be able to transact business with government agencies quickly.
Accessing the Internet is rapidly becoming more affordable due to the proliferation of fixed and mobile phone lines throughout the country. A home telephone now costs less and the network operators are setting up base stations everywhere.
In fact, with the merging of computer and information devices, the computer, as we know it may even cease to exist. The mobile phone has already become an all-in-one device. It will not be long before every house, even every individual, has access to the Internet - and to the world - at his or her fingertips.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Mohammad Shahidul Islam
Quelle/Source: The Financial Express Bangladesh, 03.09.2010
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