Free internet to be provided in Punjab's Public Parks

[Edevelop]

LAHORE: The government has decided to provide free internet at public parks by setting up Wi-fi hotspots there, Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at an event, titled Ilm Bazaar, organised by ILM Ideas and the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF).

He said that the government, in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID), had introduced various technologies to promote learning. He said the steps had yielded good results in remote areas.

Ahmad said that the Punjab government was committed to introducing and implementing the world’s best practices in the education sector. He said that radio would be used as a source of instructions at classrooms. Satellite vans would also be sent to schools in remote, less-developed areas to facilitate learning there.

The minister said that the DFID’s Punjab Model of Innovative Education programme had been replicated in three other countries. He said four million children were enrolled in schools last year exceeding the set target of 3.4 million.

Ahmad said that IT labs at schools would work as e-libraries from 3pm to 6pm. E libraries would also be set up at colleges.

Education experts at the event favoured innovative ideas to meet various challenges faced by the education sector. They stressed the need for taking ground realities into account while working on sustainable innovative solutions. The panelists included Zehra Zaidi from the ILm Ideas, Roshaneh Zafar from the Kashf Foundation, Ahsan Jamil from the Aman Foundation, Anfal Saqib from the DFID and Khurram Zafar from the LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Stay connected: Free internet to be provided at public parks, Mashhood says – The Express Tribune

 

[Nawaba]

Balay oh balay.

main toh apna tambu set karnay ja ra hun park mein

 

[Qalandari]

While I always thought that parks are meant for physical activities rather than playing games online.

Just shows the priorities of the incumbent incompetent government.

 

[airmarshal]

How about improving govt schools and curriculum in resource rich province relatively free of terror?

 

[Sugarcane]

LOL!!! Now even in Parks people will be over internet, But anyway if govt. is going to all setup and operating expenses from public money than please don't waste public funds. Anyone who can afford device for browsing can afford internet as well. it's not that much expensive now. But if govt. really want to promote internet than make internet service tax free to make it more cheaper.

 

[SipahSalar]

Who uses any electronics in a park anyways...

 

[Gazi]

At least good for placing Takhti of Khadim-e-Ala's Useless Promotion Campaign.

 

[Jungibaaz]

What on earth is up with these idiots? We don't have wifi in parks here, and if the government made it so, I'd be against it and call it a tremendous waste of money. Now that's here in the UK, much richer, much more developed, where all get free education, universal healthcare, universal benefits, and everyone is relatively prosperous.

What sense does this make in Pakistan if I can't make sense of it here?

Gimmicks. @That Guy add this to the list bud. wifi hotspots in parks, the new solution to all of our problems.

 

[salwararmy]

@Jungibaaz Any saint Guy would rather use his own Cellular Network for Internet than these Public Hot Spots.
So many users, so there will be a Bandwidth & Latency issue. Its such a waste of Money.

 

[That Guy]

What on earth is up with these idiots? We don't have wifi in parks here, and if the government made it so, I'd be against it and call it a tremendous waste of money. Now that's here in the UK, much richer, much more developed, where all get free education, universal healthcare, universal benefits, and everyone is relatively prosperous.

What sense does this make in Pakistan if I can't make sense of it here?

Gimmicks. @That Guy add this to the list bud. wifi hotspots in parks, the new solution to all of our problems.

Actually, here I have to disagree. Free wifi, no matter where it is offered can actually be beneficial to the country. It helps give people who can't afford internet services a place to go and either study, or work.

Of course I'm bias here, as this is my field of study, but i can't stress enough how much of a good step this is.

 

[Jungibaaz]

Actually, here I have to disagree. Free wifi, no matter where it is offered can actually be beneficial to the country. It helps give people who can't afford internet services a place to go and either study, or work.

Of course I'm bias here, as this is my field of study, but i can't stress enough how much of a good step this is.

It has it's benefits, but what are the costs? What is the opportunity cost of something like this as opposed to funds being diverted where they are needed more desperately? Sure this might be a good step if you only consider it in itself. But this goes back to my efficiency argument, funds should go where they're most needed, where they can accomplish the greatest return for the smallest input, and where the sustainability and lifetime of said purchase is properly valued.

Don't you think funds could be better spent elsewhere? If so, then we've forgone significant gains and in fact, in our case, damage control.

 

[farhan_9909]

why is the free access to internet so important?mobilink offer 7gb for only 60rs for a week of 3g internet.

 

[That Guy]

It has it's benefits, but what are the costs? What is the opportunity cost of something like this as opposed to funds being diverted where they are needed more desperately? Sure this might be a good step if you only consider it in itself. But this goes back to my efficiency argument, funds should go where they're most needed, where they can accomplish the greatest return for the smallest input, and where the sustainability and lifetime of said purchase is properly valued.

Don't you think funds could be better spent elsewhere? If so, then we've forgone significant gains and in fact, in our case, damage control.

From what I can tell, this should not cost that much to run and support.Most likely this was the park management's idea to attract more people, thus creating a bigger revenue stream. Running large scale wifi operations is surprisingly cheap, so I don't think the funds would have done much good elsewhere.

 

[Jungibaaz]

From what I can tell, this should not cost that much to run and support.Most likely this was the park management's idea to attract more people, thus creating a bigger revenue stream. Running large scale wifi operations is surprisingly cheap, so I don't think the funds would have done much good elsewhere.

This doesn't sound like it's some move by private sector entities who seek profit, if this was the case, I'd have no problem. But this is the government, and not quoting a park but multiple parks, by the wording of the article.

 

[Cheetah786]

While I always thought that parks are meant for physical activities rather than playing games online.

Just shows the priorities of the incumbent incompetent government.

PPP Zardar Government set the bar of competence so high. That for the next million years,no one I mean no one can compete.