Abstract
In this paper I use a critical lens to examine the introduction and adaptation of computer and information and communication technologies in Pakistan’s educational system. This examination is based on two broad contentions: a) the introduction of technology in Pakistan’s educational system is not conducive to the creation of a locally relevant knowledge system; instead the motivation is to create a market for foreign technology (hardware and software) and technological ideas; b) such an uncritical introduction of technology suits the needs of the undemocratic governments and hierarchical societies in the developing world and the neo-liberal economic forces abroad. I argue that such introduction of technology in education suits the former because, unlike critical education, the market model of education does not prepare students to question unjust and inequitable social and political practices around them. It rather suits the latter because education based on a market model produces a global pool of semi-trained laborers that can process technological and scientific raw material without gaining the expertise required to produce knowledge that is socially relevant and of benefit to them. I conclude that in this way technology becomes a source of hegemony and yet another tool of oppression rather than a vehicle for liberation and a just society.
Highlights
Pakistan is in the early stages of introducing computers into its public schools
In line with its current information technology (IT) policy, the government of Pakistan has launched various schemes to promote the use of computers in public schools
In Pakistan the rationale behind introducing technology in education is based on ‘techno-centric/skills based/economic reasoning’. Such an argument is self-defeating for a number of reasons. It ignores the social and political conditions of Pakistani society: the majority of the Pakistani population lives in rural areas where computer skills are not of much relevance to gaining employment
Summary
Pakistan is in the early stages of introducing computers into its public schools. In line with its current information technology (IT) policy, the government of Pakistan has launched various schemes to promote the use of computers in public schools. Just as classical critical theory was concerned with analyzing how technology was ‘selectively’ appropriated in the capitalist production process, critical theorists of educational technology focus their attention on how technology is ‘selectively’ being introduced in educational institutions and effects of such introduction of technology on knowledge production They argue that computers have been introduced in schools without critical reflection or defining educational goals. In this paper I follow the critical theorists of educational technology in arguing that an un-critical and non-problematic approach to introducing technology into schools can enhance the possibilities whereby the act of placing computers in schools itself will increase the current inequalities at both the local and global levels as more of what constitutes as technical knowledge or technological knowledge is linked with power relations and dominant discourses and is symbolically created in the minds of people.
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