National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE) is one of the institutions that can help Pakistan climb a technological ladder and give it a window of opportunity to gain a respectable standing as a growing and vibrant economy.
NISTE has taken steps of which many will be small but they are significant in a sense that they will add to an increasing pool of professionals and technical personnel not only serving in Pakistan but also abroad. NISTE Director General Farid Akhtar Khawaja told newsmen that the main objective of the Institute was to provide youth pool science and technical education on national level.
In the year 2009, the Institute has set its sights on training 500 technical teachers, he said, adding the PC-1 of the project of technical training would be approved by board of NISTE in its next meeting. The board planned to meet on January 20 to approve the project, which would be another milestone in the efforts of NISTE to promote technical education, he further said.
In collaboration with Unesco-Unevoc Centre, 1,200 teachers were given training to enhance employable skills annually, he said. Through USAID Education-links programme, the Institute has completed five out of six courses for improving the quality and sustainability of teacher education and student performance. 80 teachers are given training per course and five batches have been completed.
Presently, NISTE is undertaking a large number of academic programmes of vital importance. It had introduced courses in science education, vocational, technical education, electronics, electrical, civil, mechanical, auto and diesel, refrigeration and air-conditioning and computer science, he informed.
It has embarked on a programme of training of professionals and teachers from all areas of country in the various branches of science and technical education. The Institute located in the "education sector" H-8 of the federal capital came up with the plan to train 600 science teachers in the current fiscal year. About 400 of them have already undergone training.
For improving the standard of science education, NISTE under Cida programme trains 150 teachers from Fata, Fana, AJK and ICT per year. The Institute has initiated B. Ed Tech programmes as per National Education Policy 1998-2010, to meet the much-needed professionally trained teachers for the technical education stream.
From March, NISTE would initiate Bachelors of Education and Technology programme along with Asian Development Bank (ADB). The programme affiliated with Riphah International University was closed three years back due to certain reasons, the director said.
The Institute is also executing various IT programmes for the students of FA, FSC to excel in the field of Information Technology.
Spread over 30 acres of prime land in the centre of Islamabad, NISTE is fully equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Institute is collaborating with foreign sister organisations like Unesco, Unevoc, CPSC, Unicef for the development of science and technical education. NISTE began development of textbooks and manuals for science and technical subjects for schools and polytechnic.
NISTE has also published a package of 42 science textbooks, 18 textbooks and 17 manuals for matric technical stream and 100 textbooks and manuals for DAE students. Some may think NISTE's contribution as a drop in the ocean, but it is a worthwhile effort to put Pakistan on the radar screen along with nations considered behemoths in science and technology.
Certainly NISTE is setting foundations of bigger things to come in our country. NISTE is a merger of National Technical Teachers Training College (NTTTC) and Institute for the Promotion of Science Education and Training (IPSET). Both of these institutions were established in the early 80s and subsequently merged in 1997 to form NISTE. NISTE functions directly under the control of Ministry of Education.
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