PESHAWAR: The elementary and secondary education department made computer subject compulsory in government schools but it failed to recruit information technology teachers and establish computer laboratories in the schools during the last two years, according to officials.

They said that the department decided to make computer subject compulsory for the students of grade 6, 7 and 8 in around 5,000 government schools of the province since academic year 2012-13. According the decision, the subject should be taught in 4,902 state-run educational institutions including 2,577 middle, 1,980 high and 3,45 higher secondaryschools.

However, in the absence of IT teachers and computer laboratories, the administrations of the schools were compelled to ask `irrelevant` teachers to teach theory of the subject to students without practical demonstration, sources told Dawn.

`Currently the teachers, who are teaching the subject to students, have no knowledge of computer, they added.

Sources said that many principals defied the decision of the education department and didn`t introduce computer subject in their schools owing to non-availability of relevant teachers and computer laboratories.

The headmasters and teachers of different schools in the city and adjacent areas told this correspondent during a visit that they heard about the decision of education department but it was not implemented in their respective schools.

How it was possible to teach computer subject without recruitment of IT teachers and setting up of com-puter laboratories in the schools, they asked.

The principal of a government high school in the city area, when asked, said that the Qari (theology teacher) of his school was teaching computer subject to students.

`Tell PTI chief Imran Khan to come and teach computer to the students as teachers in our school have no knowledge of the subject,` said another teacher in the cantonment area. He said that PTI chief declared education emergency in the province and claimed at different forums to bring government schools at par with the elite private schools. `First he should provide teachers to schools then bring the government schools at par with elite private schools,` he added.

Officials said that education department established computer laboratories in around 100 high and higher secondary schools and appointed the same number of IT teachers across the province during the last 12 years.`About 300 computer laboratories established by different NGOs rusted as computers couldn`t be used by the students in the absence of IT teachers,` sources said.

They said that the laboratories, established more than a decade ago by the government and NGOs, were currently of no use because computers installed in there were of old version.

One of the district education officers, when contacted, said that government published computer books that were taught by the teachers, who had no knowledge of the subject. Like other subjects, he said, irrelevant teachers only read the content of the theory books and finished it no matter the students understood it or not.

The official said that a month ago the issue of lack of IT teachers was raised during a meeting between all district education officers and highups of education department.

He said that they were told to hire services of IT teachers on temporary basis and pay them up to Rs10,000salary from the parent teacher council (PTC) fund. The PTC fund, a meagre amount, was meant for minor repair of the schools, he said. `If we utilise the PTC fund on hiring IT teachers than how we will arrange fund for minor repair of the schools buildings,` he asked.

Provincial Minister for Education Mohammad Atif could not be contacted despite repeated attempts by this scribe.

However, Education Director Mohammad Rafiq Khattak, when contacted, said that computer was made a compulsory subject in secondary schools. Asked as to who would teach the subject, he said that every teacher could teach the subject in schools as the theory books were about basics of computer.

Besides the existing 400 computer laboratories, he said, establishment of 170 more laboratories on the cards. `The education department has asked the finance department to allow it to appoint IT teachers in the schools,` Mr Khattak said.