Kathmandu, June 25: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today observed that if we do not grasp the potentials of Information Technology, the country will fall behind in development process.

“The country badly needs skilled manpower to cope with the challenges of the time,” Koirala added.

Premier Koirala made this remark while inaugurating a newly set up college, known as APEX, here this morning.

Emphasising the need to produce IT manpower, Koirala said that he has already instructed Education Ministry to introduce computer classes in the government-run schools as per the sources available in the ministry.

“I have also directed the concerned ministry to mull over establishing the Open University in the country so that it would help the government’s poverty alleviation measures and further boost the education sector.

Education Minister Amod Prasad Upadhyaya said that the government would soon come up with some innovative ideas in the IT sector to bring the nation into the mainstream of IT Revolution that has swept the world.

Since the government alone cannot provide education to the public, it has adopted the policy to encourage the private sector to invest in this field, he said.

Science and Technology Minister Surendra Prasad Chaudhary informed that his ministry would introduce IT policy and present the Cyber Bill in the House of Representatives within this week.

Calling the current world political system as “Digital Democracy”, Chaudhary said that those countries would become poorer if they failed to compete in the knowledge-based society which is the global trend as of now.

Purshottam Baskota, Vice-Chancellor of Pokhara University said that education institutions should emphasis on education that help the students to be self-employed and produce the required manpower that could assist in building the development infrastructure of the country.

APEX Chairman Minendra Prasad Rijal said that the college aims at producing required IT manpower for the country.

Rijal said that the APEX has designed four years’ Bachelors of Computer Information Systems (BCIS) course which is quite a new concept in Nepalese context. The course is equavalent to the bachelor-level education adopted by universities of other countries. Besides, the college offers three years’ Bachelor of Business Administration course.

The college, which is affiliated to Pokhara University, is equipped with modern information technology and qualified teachers, according to L. P. Bhanu Sharma, Principal of the college.