I n t e rn a ti o nal Jou r n al o f H u m an i ti es and S o c i a l S c i e nc e Vol. 1 No. 2 ; Fe b rua r y 20 1 1 Centre for Promotin Ideas! "S# $$$ .i% & s s n e t .

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61 61
Importance of School based ICT Curriculum & Career Counseling in Pakistan
Abdul Zahid Khan Lecturer
Technology Management Faculty
f Management Sciences
International Islamic University Islamabad Pakistan
!mail" fo r # kh a n $ y a ho o %com
Hafiz hufran Ali Khan
Lecturer of Management
International Islamic University Islamabad Pakistan
!mail" h g hu f r a n $ y a ho o %com
!r A"ais e Sira#
&' (en#ee Solutions Islamabad Pakistan
!mail" a )sir a*$hotmail%com
!r$ Tahir Hi#azi
Pro +ector University of &entral Pun*ab,U&P-
!mail" hi * a # is y d $ y a ho o %com
Abstract
In 'resent times it is a uni(ersally acce'ted fact t&at IC) *Information Communication )ec&noloy+ is t&e
sole 'otent dri(in force be&ind e(ery ,no$lede dri(en economy of t&e $orld. In order to effecti(ely
im'lement IC) in (arious fields! t&ere is a dire need for t&e a(ailability of 'ro'er $ell trained - committed
IC) $or, force in a country. In Pa,istan lac, of interest of students in t&e field of I) cou'led $it& t&e decline
in t&e .uality of out'ut &as com'elled us to embar, u'on deliberatin on t&is (ital issue $&ic& confronts us.
)&is 'a'er del(es in to different factors li,e curriculum! a(ailability of resources! 'ro'er uidance and career
counselin / t&e core issues affectin t&e role of IC) at sc&ool le(el in Pa,istan. 0ata is collected from t&e
e1istin students of 2ac&elor *22# I)3! 22# Hons! 2CS+ and 3aster le(el *32# I)3!32#)43
!32#!3CS+ 'rorams of fi(e different uni(ersities of Pa,istan*t$o 'ublic sector and t&ree $ell re'uted
'ri(ate sector+. It is obser(ed t&at ma%ority of t&e students &ailed from remote areas of Pa,istan &a(in "rdu5
medium instruction bac,round. 6it& inade.uate e1'osure of IC) at sc&ool or collee le(el and ma1imum of
t&eir time $as e1&austed in de(elo'in basic le(el s,ill instead of 're'arin t&em for &i5tec& industry.
3oreo(er! it is obser(ed t&at ma%ority of t&e students are not a$are of t&eir ob%ecti(es of t&e s'ecific
'rorams t&ey are enrolled in and also about t&eir future careers in t&ese fields! sim'ly due to none1istence
of career counselin culture bot& at sc&ool and collee le(el
Introduction
The overall .ur.ose of this study is to determine the reasons of lack of interest of students!cum lack of
.rofessionalism in the field of I&T% The results of I&T com.etencies for e/.ected outcomes0 related to
kno)ledge and skills that students )ere e/.ected to achieve at the end of university level .rograms are not
com.arable )ith the neighboring countries like India0 1angladesh and &hina% 2The future e/.ansion and use
of I&T in Pakistan0 as else)here0 must inevitably0 ho)ever0 de.end on the school and higher education sectors
.roducing an ade3uate flo) of a..ro.riately trained .eo.le% 'nly then can the country be confident of making
the best use of the I&T o..ortunities no) available )ithin Pakistan % ,Iftikhar Ali and %ohn Proctor& '(()-%
4es.ite the herculean efforts of 5& on .roviding state of the art .ara.hernalia0 the resources are not
o.timally utili#ed by the students0 reason being from diverse backgrounds and having less e/.osure of IT
before *oining universities%
Unfortunately0 the universities are )orking as institutes for .roviding training of basic0 soft)are and
hard)are0 a..lications instead of enhancing kno)ledge in these advance fields% It has been observed that fe)
students )ere )orking on industry related .ro*ects% Most of the students are concentrating on shortcuts instead
of threadbare .ro*ects% &onse3uentially they face difficulty in getting .ro.er *obs in the industry% This creates
frustration among them and leads to negative feedback to the e/isting students% In recent years the student
interest in the field of IT and com.uter science has dro..ed significantly% The .rograms like M16 ITM0 M&S
and 1&S and 116 ITM are getting very ordinary res.onse% 'ne of the areas of concern )ith the universities
is the 2lack of desired a.titude in the students of these .rograms% The industry is still as.iring for the
.rofessionals in these fields0 but unfortunately0 instead of .roducing re3uired .rofessionals for the industry0
some universities have sto..ed offering these .rograms%
There are multi.le causes for this but one of the most crucial factor is inade3uately designed I&T .olicy at
school level cou.led )ith the com.lete none/istence of career counseling )hich is much needed influential
factor at this stage%
Literature Review:
I&T .olicies of different countries )ere searched0 analy#ed and lot of literature is available on this to.ic% 2In
order to .re.are students for the challenges they )ill face in future life0 teachers and students should be able to
use I&T in their teaching and learning activities0 )hich may facilitate the develo.ment of ne) skills and high
order thinking ,Spencer* +,,,-% In order to .lan0 design and im.lement I&T in the country there is a dire
need of strong and committed .rofessionals in this field% Literature revie) on successful I&T im.lementation
in the countries like 7a.an0 Malaysia0 S.ain and Israel has sho)n great em.hasis on I&T im.lementation at
.rimary school level% The incor.oration of I&T into the school has sho)n great im.act on the students of
these countries% They have incor.orated I&T into curriculum at different levels in the schools% The teachers
)ere trained in this area so that they can integrate technology in the class% The numerous successful e/am.les
of innovative I&T uses for teaching and learning are found all over the )orld ,-ioduser et al$* +,,,. /oogt
& 0denthal* +,,,. /enezk1 & !a2is* '(('-% The different studies on I&T im.lementation at school level
has sho)n that the thinking .rocess of students has been im.roved considerably )ith the hel. of different
tools used in the class room% Innovative a.titude of students at school level has great im.ortance in the
advance fields of their research%
The im.act of I&T0 on innovation has been .ositive sho)n by the e/.eriment on ten schools in Israel 3!$
-ioduser* 4$ 5achmias* !$ Tubin & A$ 6orkosh&7aruch* '(('-%The 8irginia 1oard of ducation has
im.lemented state Standards of Learning for students to ensure that all graduates of 8irginia high schools
have the kno)ledge and skills necessary to .ursue higher education0 com.ete in a technologically oriented
)orkforce0 and be informed citi#ens% ffective school counseling .rograms are staffed by licensed school
counselors and designed to com.lement and su..ort the state standards0 ensuring that all students0 in .re!9
through grade 1:0 receive su..ort in academic0 career0 and .ersonal;social develo.ment% Professional school
counselors collaborate )ith .arents0 teachers0 administrators0 and other school and community members to
foster0 .romote0 and im.rove student success and achievement in schools% The counselor<s role is to .rovide
the leadershi. necessary to manage the school counseling .rogram and ensure effective strategies to
im.lement counseling standards% ,Standards for School Counseling Programs in /irginia Public Schools
Adopted in %anuar1 '(()8 Mr% 9umar,:==>- has .ointed out the difference of career counseling services of
US )ith India%
5e has mentioned in his .a.er that almost all the schools of US are .roviding career!counseling services to
their students% They are using different soft)are for .ersonality test and hel. their students in *udging their
strengths in .articular fields% ?hereas very fe) schools in India offering such ty.e of services% Su.er ,1@@=-
suggests that career .lanning becomes significant during late 6dolescence and early adulthood% 4uring this
time0 senior high school students enter a time in their lives )hen seeking career information and becoming
a)are of their vocational interests is a ma*or develo.mental task ,rickson 1@660 cited in 9racke 1@@>-
Information used by young .eo.le in deciding their future .lans and career is based on the information they
ac3uire during childhood0 through their .arents0 friends and teachers0 guidance counselors0 .ublic lib rary
resources0 the mass media and government career centers ,7ulien 1@@@09im ?itko0 9erry 1 1ernes0 9ris
Magnusson and 6ngela 4 1ardick0:==A- ?ith the hel. of internet students are encouraged to e/.lore their
strengths and teachers hel. them in this regard%
This can be .ossible only0 once they have access to internet and get to kno) )hat is ha..ening in the )orld%
Their results are dis.layed on the electronic notice boards and in some cases through educational intranet%
There are some nglish medium schools in Pakistan0 )hich have incor.orated I&T in their curriculum and for
effective management%'ne of the most im.ortant successful case study in this regard is &ity School
e/.erience of I&T in Pakistan ,Iftikhar Ali and %ohn Proctor* '(()-% They have highlighted different
advantages of im.lementation of I&T at different levels% This school has no) sustainable com.etitive
advantage over other schools% The students of this school are fully utili#ing I&T resources0 )hich has a very
.ositive im.act on their .ersonalities% These students )ill kno) in advance the use of different soft)are and
resultantly develo. their e/.ertise in their res.ective fields of interest in the universities% Moreover0 they )ill
.rove to be a valuable asset for the student community in .articular and for the country in general%
Research Methodology
Purpose 9 Aim of the 4esearch Stud1:
It is very difficult to gauge the reasons of lack of interest of students in their res.ective fields% Initially the
International Islamic University0 Islamabad Pakistan and four other universities ,Muhammad 6li 7innah
University0 &'MS6TS0 F6ST and 6rid 6griculture University- are selected for the .ur.ose of research%
Follo)ing are the main ob*ectives of this research study"
To identify the background of different students before *oining the res.ective universities ,nglish
medium or Urdu medium-%
To e/.lore the e/.ertise of I&T before *oining university0 use of com.uter0 internet etc%
To e/.lore the conce.t of career .lanning vis!B!vis the future .lans0 ob*ectives and reasons for
*oining s.ecific .rograms%
Research Design
Sample Size:
In order to e/.edite the research .rocess students from Faculty of Management Sciences and of Faculty of
6..lied sciences )ere selected on the basis of stratified .ro.ortionate sam.ling from five different
universities% 6 sam.le of A== students )as studied for this .ur.ose%
Sur2e1 -ethods: 3-ail* Inter2ie"s* Telephones8
'ur focus is on FMS and F6S students% For the survey0 sim.le 3uestionnaires )ere develo.ed and grou.s
)ere formed to collect the s.ecific information in this regard%
4esponse 4ate:
The students of different universities )ere a..roached and briefed about the im.ortance of this 3uestionnaire%
They )ere briefed about the ob*ectives of this study and re3uested to .rovide the information in a befitting
manner%
;ni2erist1 6re<uenc1 Percent /alid Percent Cumulati2e Percent
8alid IIUI
M67U
F6ST
6+I4
&'MS6TS
Total
:==
>=
A=
C=
AD
C1D
C>%D
16%>
1:%=
@%6
1E%@
1==%=
C>%D
16%>
1:%=
@%6
1E%@
1==%=
C>%D
6C%6
>6%6
D6%1
1==%=
Table+
Some useful information is gathered from the admission de.artment of universities% They .rovided the details
of the students enrolled in the IT and com.uter science .rograms% 6fter data collection0 )e coded it in
Microsoft /cel and used SPSS for analysis%
Table' sho"s that =>$' ? "ere male and @+$>? "ere female students from fi2e different
uni2ersities of Islamabad$
Students Fre3uency Percent 8alid Percent &umulative Percent
8alid male
female
Total
:DA 6D%: 6D%: 6D%:
1EE E1%D E1%D 1==%=
C1D 1==%= 1==%=
Data Analysis
+$ -edium of Instruction
Fig%6 sho)s the students *oining the university level .rogram are mainly from three different instruction
based backgrounds like Urdu medium0 nglish medium and 6!level%
Student status in Different Universities
70
60
50
40
Urdu Medium
30
Enlish Medium
A-Level
20
10
0
Medium of Instruction
6ig&A
The follo)ing gra.hs sho) the Percentage of Students based on medium of instruction *oining IIU0 F6ST0
6+I40 M67U and &'MS6TS at Master level and bachelor level%
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e
.

o
f

s
t
u
d
e
n
t
s
Medium of instruction of ma*ority of the students *oining .ublic sector universities is Urdu and that of Private
sector universities is nglish% There can be multi.le contributory factors for this contrast but the most salient
is the affluence of the .arents of the students )ho *oin .rivate sector universities$
'$ Amail Account
In order to get the information about the use of I&T services at basic level0 students )ere asked to .rovide
information about mail account creation and use%Fig%C sho)s that 1E%@F students created email account at
school level0 1E%6 F at college level and >1%1F created email account at university level% Sur.risingly there
)ere 1%C F students )ithout email address even at university level% This chart s.eaks volumes in favor of our
.remise 2School based I&T &urriculum in Pakistan%
Email Account Creation
80
60
40
0
0
Universit! level College level Scool level Still no Address
6ig$7
@$ A2ailabilit1 of Internet ser2ices at school le2el
'nly :D F students have given .ositive res.onse in availability of internet services at school level )hereas
>:F sho)s negative res.onse in this regard% The arguments envisaged as in fig 1 ante hold )ell in this case
also%
Availa"ilit! of Internet services at sc#ool
level
no
28%
yes
no
yes
72%
)$ Career Counseling at School Be2el
6ig&C
'nly ECF students mostly belonging to .rivate nglish medium schools has sho)n .ositive res.onse and 66
F res.onse )as negative% Mostly the Urdu medium schools do not have any conce.t of career counseling% The
students are not a)are of their strengths and a.titude and unfortunately their hidden talent is not e/.loited that
level%
Career counseling at sc#ool level
yes, 32
yes
no
no, 68
Fig 4
C$ 0b#ecti2e of Program
+esults de.ict that ma*ority of the students did not kno) the ob*ectives of the .rogram they are enrolled in and
its significance )ith the contem.orary trends in the industry% This0 results in not fetching the right *obs%
$"%ective of Program
70
60
50
40
eries1
30
20
10
= !ecision about Career
0
yes no
6ig$ A
Ma*ority of the students decide about their career at university level% It means that they decide about the
s.ecific .rograms of their study at university level% They do not have any idea about the s.ecific .rogram at
school or college level% +esults sho) that 6DF students decide about s.ecific career at University level016%> at
college level and only 1C%D decide at school level% &areer guidance at the school and college level )ill
enhance the university intake$
!ecision about their career Percent /alid Percent Cumulati2e Percent
8alid school level 1C%D 1C%D 1C%D
college level 16%> 16%> E1%6
university level 6D%C 6D%C 1==%=
Table @
D$ Kno"ledge of internet before #oining uni2ersit1
6..ro/imately C=F students )ere using the internet before *oining the universities0 thanks to the mushroom
gro)th of internet clubs )hich are less used for academic .ur.ose;educational .ur.oses and more for
entertainment .ur.ose$
6re<uenc1 Percent /alid Percent Cumulati2e Percent
8alid yes
no
Total
16: ED%D ED%D ED%D
:A6 61%: 61%: 1==%=
C1D 1==%= 1==%=
Table C
>$ ICT AEpertise
The students *oining the university level .rograms in the field of I&T are mostly at the learner level and only
6F students have the desired e/.ertise% These students s.ent most of their time in develo.ing and learning
basic skills% It is very difficult for them to do research at the advance level$
Fre3uency Percent 8alid Percent &umulative Percent
8alid Learning 1asic Skills
Little 9no)ledge
intermediate
e/.ert
Total
:=C CD%D CD%D CD%D
1A= EA%@ EA%@ DC%>
E6 D%6 D%6 @E%E
:D 6%> 6%> 1==%=
C1D 1==%= 1==%=
TableA
,$ 4ationale for internet surfing
Students are using internet mostly for chatting and email instead of using it for research .ur.ose% 5& has
.rovided access to different research *ournals and libraries and for this .ur.ose they have invested million of
dollars but Unfortunately students are not getting use of these resources% ?e should try to shift the focus of
the students using internet to research .ur.oses$
no, 58
yes, 42
6re<uenc1 Percent /alid Percent Cumulati2e Percent
8alid 4igital
Library;+esearch
chatting
email
general surfing
online courses
Total
Missing System
Total
:= C%D C%D C%D
1=D :A%D :A%@ E=%>
1C> EA%: EA%E 6A%@
>A 1>%@ 1D%= DE%@
6> 16%= 16%1 1==%=
C1>
1
C1D
@@%D
%:
1==%=
1==%=
Table 6
ICT at School le2el 3A conceptual frame"ork8
I&T based &urriculum
A2ailabilit1 of resources
IT9 internet
Industry information
&areer counseling
6.titude in the
field
P
'
S
I
Ad2ance ICT
T
I
4esearch
8

&
'
G
T
+ Interest in
I
the field of
1
U
ICT
T
I
'
G
Conclusion:
This research .a.er concludes the need of a School based I&T &urriculum taught at both the government and
.rivate schools throughout Pakistan0 su..orted by the availability of career counseling of student at .rimary0
elementary and at higher levels in order to meet the demands and challenges of the modern high tech
industries across the globe% It has been observed that there is a lack of I&T infrastructure availability at school
level% It is recommended that attention must be given to the availability of I&T infrastructure at school level%
The availability of internet services at the school level )ill hel. the students to search different u.coming
s.eciali#ed emerging areas and fields so that they can decide about their future )ith interest and commitment%
&urriculum at school level should be designed in a )ay0 )hich makes the teachers integrate I&T in the
classroom% Teaching of basic soft)are like MS?ord0 /cel0 Po)er Point and internet and mail must be
.rovided at school level% 'n the basis of results of this study it is further recommended that that efforts must
be made regarding the develo.ment of )eb site and database at college level in order to visuali#e the use of
I&T at this level%
The lack of advance I&T skills at the university level could only be im.roved once the student has basic
kno)ledge at the college level% The students at the university )ill start thinking about advance conce.ts of
o.erating system0 databases and )eb develo.ment and start doing advance research in these areas%
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