Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmad Leghari has said that 10,000 internships would be offered to young IT graduates to fill the demand-supply gap of human resource in the industry.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of a computer lab set up by the Ministry of Information Technology at Government Polytechnic Institute for Women, Islamabad, on Friday, he said that the Ministry would also offer 200 scholarships to students hailing from backward and rural areas for higher education in the IT and telecom disciplines.
He said that the Pakistan Software Export Board had already completed a similar programme, and out of the 2500 promising IT graduates, who were offered internship, more than half had already been absorbed in the industry.
"We would run a boot programme for about 2500 students, who would be trained for three months before appearing in an entry test for admission, and up to 200 students, who qualify for admission, would be given fully funded scholarships by the Ministry," he said.
The Minister said that at least 100,000 jobs had been created in this sector during the last 2-3 years and the industry, with its expansion, needs 8,000 professionals every month to fill up key positions.
"The demand for technicians who are abreast with latest methods is already increasing as in today's competitive environment the use of IT has become an indispensable tool for nearly every kind of job, and the demand for skilled personnel has steadily increased over the past decade," he said. He said the ministry of information technology had also set up computer labs at 73 federal and cantonment garrison schools/colleges, 25 PAF colleges and three cadet colleges.
Principal Fareeda Javed lauded the role of the ministry in providing the computer lab. She said the computer lab was spread over six departments, including computer science, electronics, dress design, commerce and office management and architecture.