By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar chaired a meeting along with the Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain to discuss the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology here on Thursday.
Chaudhry Fawad informed that his ministry had a number of high tech, innovative and creative projects in the pipeline to be launched in near future. These interventions are related to modes of commutation, research & development and technical education etc. Asad Umar appreciated the efforts and idea of the ministry. The minister for Science and Technology also shared the proposal of raising the standards of government’s schools through the idea of STEMS (Science Technology Engineering and Maths Schools) in which the syllabus will also be converted into Lab Language.
He said that the purpose of making STEM Schools was to enhance the quality of education imparted our children. He said that the Ministry would want to start with around 90 schools and scale up based on financing availability for the projects. A formal project proposal would be presented for approval soon.
Minister for Science & Technology informed that National University of Technology (NUTECH) under the Ministry was working on developing an unmanned railway project. Minister for Planning directed the Ministry of Railway and NUTECH to work together and prepare the project to be executed with collaboration of the private sector in PPP mode. Asad Umar said that the cost of all such major initiatives should be estimated and then a summary should be prepared.
Prioritized projects/interventions should be furnished to Planning Ministry for further decisions, he added. Secretary Planning, Secretary Railways and senior officials participated in the meeting.
