K-P government launches programme for youth employment

First set of courses will be offered for free; applications to stay open till Sept 14

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KPITB) on Sunday launched Youth Employment Programme aimed at imparting digital skills and creating employment opportunities for the youth in the province.

The Programme, ‘K-P Youth Employment Programme: Digital Skills for All’, aims to build on the success of an earlier Programme in 2016, under which more than 4,500 youngsters had been trained to make effective use of digital platforms, a hand-out issued by the department read.

Keeping in view the rapidly growing demand for digital skills, Youth Employment Programme has expanded its scope by supporting Programmes designed to disseminate digital skills more broadly, and help create adaptable and flexible digital solutions to the evolving needs.

“I firmly believe the digital economy has the potential to absorb many of the graduates and provide them decent paying work if they have the right skills. This programme is our effort to create the skilled workforce for the future and connect them to the future jobs,” said Managing Director KPITB Dr Shahbaz Khan, while addressing the launching ceremony.

The handout stated that courses will be offered in different modules, helping students to choose their desired pathways and access digital opportunities present in the country and elsewhere.

Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to attend in-person trainings as well as access course content using online learning management system. Courses will range from basic and introductory levels to advanced-level courses and place the building blocks for a more digitized economy.

While courses will be open for anyone interested in learning digital skills, final list of selected participants and the fee structure will be decided later. However, the first set of courses will be offered for free.

To assess the overall demand for the courses, the IT board will accept first set of applications till September 14. Trainings are expected to commence in late September.

The programme is part of the ‘Digital K-P’ strategy announced last year, technical assistance for which is being provided by the World Bank.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2017.