Jun 11
26
IT Education-Challenges And Opportunities
IT education has to face many challenges these days. As the competition has grown up and new technologies have come up the IT education has to face a lot of challenges. Few of them are as below:
Policy
Structures
Resources
Political Environment
Policy:
The National IT educational policies needs to be reviewed and implemented especially as it affects the following: Periodic review of Curricula of IT Education to bring them inline with modern trends. Introducing IT Education at the various levels of our Educational system would help people to know the main objective of the education. Vocational training institutes to strengthen by assisting in the areas of quality and standards. IT literacy should be handled spectrally for effectiveness. -Public servants, Press, Doctors, Lawyers etc. National IT educational Institutes are set up to train the trainers. Every graduate to undergo one year training at these national institutes before qualifying to practice would help them excel in all possible ways. Fostering of Academics Industry cooperation, Endowment, Foundation, Industrial Attachment, Sabbatical leave, Sponsorship of Learned Conferences are the major qualities. At least 20% of IT Education fund should be reserved for Research & Development. Statutes of higher institutions to provide for academic and technical staff to attend at least one local and one international conference annually and to participate in a Research project once in three years. Identify and encourage youth-led initiatives increases the IT education. Sponsor Pan African and International conferences are the major institutes set up in the world. Support exchange programmers’. All these help in the IT education increment.
Structures
The following structures are required for cheaper, readily accessible and all-pervasive IT Education.
E-learning Distance Learning using multimedia facilities Open University setting up of accredited training centers to handle practical and hands-on. The development of these structures should involve all stakeholders’ right from the conceptualization stage.
Resources
Infrastructure: Computer hardware, Software, Communication facilities, networking, Internet connectivity, Multimedia facilities, teaching aids, are required. The Teachers without Borders’ initiative are very laudable. Manpower development: Scholarship schemes for higher degree training, Fellowship schemes, Staff Exchange programmers’, Sponsorship to attend international conferences, sponsorship for Sabbatical leave.
Funding: Broaden sources of funding to include Endowment, Foundation, National IT fund scheme.
Political Environment:
Democratic governance a panacea for development. Political stability should be there so as have a better IT education. Transparency and countability are required at Policy making and implementation levels.
A well coordinated national IT Education could become the driving force for any development in the 21st Century. Current state of IT Education poses serious challenges to us all. The situation provides us the opportunity to contribute meaningfully in different ways to the development of IT education in the educational sector. With proper Policy and Implementation strategies, we could yet make a proper position in the IT world. The trends are being changed and yet there is no well worthy IT education in any of the nations. A few countries are well worthy in the development and in the IT sector with their innovative and hard working capabilities they are leading in the IT education and many nations are lagging behind.
