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Importance of School based ICT Curriculum & Career Counseling in Pakistan
Abdul Zahid Khan, Hafiz Ghufran Ali Khan, Dr Awais e Siraj, Dr. Tahir Hijazi

Abstract
In present times it is a universally accepted fact that ICT (Information Communication Technology) is the sole potent driving force behind every knowledge driven economy of the world. In order to effectively implement ICT in various fields, there is a dire need for the availability of proper well trained / committed ICT work force in a country. In Pakistan lack of interest of students in the field of IT coupled with the decline in the quality of output has compelled us to embark upon deliberating on this vital issue which confronts us. This paper delves in to different factors like curriculum, availability of resources, proper guidance and career counseling – the core issues affecting the role of ICT at school level in Pakistan. Data is collected from the existing students of Bachelor (BBA ITM, BBA Hons, BCS) and Master level (MBA ITM,MBATEM ,MBA,MCS) programs of five different universities of Pakistan(two public sector and three well reputed private sector). It is observed that majority of the students hailed from remote areas of Pakistan having Urdu-medium instruction background. With inadequate exposure of ICT at school or college level and maximum of their time was exhausted in developing basic level skill instead of preparing them for hi-tech industry. Moreover, it is observed that majority of the students are not aware of their objectives of the specific programs they are enrolled in and also about their future careers in these fields, simply due to nonexistence of career counseling culture both at school and college level

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