The Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) is working on working on promoting and improving the ICT sector in Pakistan. It is already working on several initiatives regarding the prospect.
According to an official from the ministry, the Prime Minister’s National ICT Scholarship programme is one of the steps in promoting the ICT sector. Students from the rural and marginalised areas of the country are provided scholarships and a chance at getting a quality education in the ICT fields.
The official also informed that since 2013, full scholarships worth Rs 1.1 billion have been offered to 909 students across the country and these students are pursuing ICT related degrees in top universities of the country. He added that through the National Grassroots ICT Research Initiative, 866 final year projects have been funded. The research funds were worth Rs 54.72 since 2013.
The official added “The Ministry of IT has partnered with Microsoft to establish computer labs in Bait-ul-Mal women empowerment centres for girls across the country where computer skills will be taught.”
Between 2013 and 2015, 800 IT graduates or those in their last year of studies have been placed as internees in different IT companies. A similar internship programme will be launched which will let 3,000 ICT graduates to gain valuable work experience.
While responding to a question about the types on internship, the official stated “IT interns have been trained in gaming and animation, android application development, iPhone programming, agile based mobile application development and dot net programming in 2014-15.” He added that the aim of the programme is to assist young teams with innovative ideas to proper startups with proper business opportunities.
The IT ministry has assisted in establishing new university campuses. In addition to those, four virtual universities were also established in remote areas like Bhalwalnagar, Jalalpur Pirwala, Makhdoom Rashid and Qadirpur Ran. These projects cost the ministry Rs. 163 million.
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