Netsol Announces to Establish Its Own IT University

The software company Netsol has initiated a plan to establish a state-of-art IT University in Pakistan.

The announcement was made by Chairman Netsol,  Salim Ghauri, on the business and employment-oriented online service, LinkedIn. He disclosed the name as Netsol University, which will be likely be set up in Lahore.

He also advertised a hiring position for Vice-Chancellor, who will be tasked to hire the faculty, design the courses, curriculum, and degree programs, and oversee the academic operations.

This is encouraging news from the industry for software houses, professionals, and students alike. A university to be set up based on industry and academic coordination could serve the entire IT sector, which is always looking for graduates having skills in advanced fields of IT sector.

Presently, a majority of local universities except a few institutions do not produce graduates that meet the requirement of the local and foreign markets. Hence, a serious shortage of human resources always prevails in the sector.

According to industry estimates, as many as 25,000 graduates graduate from various universities per year in Pakistan. However, merely 5,000 graduates can meet the requirements of the industry regarding the needed skill sets and other practical qualifications.

Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) had previously planned to set up an authority on IT education last year under the then minister. However, there is no update on the continuity of the plan under the present minister.

Stakeholders of the IT industry said that professionals of various software houses could impart their knowledge at various institutions to bring reforms in IT education. However, they said that the universities are not willing to pay them competitive salaries.

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Therefore, inexperienced teachers continue to teach various subjects of computer science to students through an outdated curriculum and obsolete methodologies.

Some big names in the IT industry usually set up their in-house training departments to meet the demand for human resources. However, this is not a long-term solution as far as the entire industry is concerned.

At present, the demand for the IT industry is exceeding 15,000 professionals every year, with over 5,000 highly-skilled professionals required in the latest technologies.

Companies have no choice but to pick up professionals from competing companies at higher offers of salary packages.

It is hoped that setting up an IT industry by a reputed IT company could make a difference in meeting the demand of the country’s IT companies in the future rather than money-making and degree-printing institutions.