Chandigarh, Dec 29 (IANS) All government colleges in Haryana will run computer education courses to prepare youth from the state for the information technology (IT) industry, a senior official of the state’s higher education department said Wednesday.

‘Haryana’s Department of Higher Education has planned to introduce computer education in 67 government colleges of the state to provide employment opportunities,’ director general of higher education Dheera Khandelwal said here.

She said the emphasis on providing computer education will be particularly in the rural areas to bridge the economic and geographic divide with students from those areas.

Khandelwal said that screening tests and walk-in interviews were conducted this month in all 21 districts of Haryana to recruit qualified computer education teachers.

Haryana has emerged as a major centre of IT enabled services and software exports, she said.

‘It is high time to prepare youth of Haryana with the necessary skills for the higher education and to benefit them from the emerging employment opportunities in the field of IT. The students, especially of weaker sections and the rural areas, should learn a minimum basic level of IT computer education and skills,’ Khandelwal added.