Over 3,000 students trained in software programming

PESHAWAR: More than 3,000 students from grade 6 to 9 have been trained in software programming under the Early Age Programming (EAP) initiative launched by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IT Board (KPITB) in collaboration with the Elementary & Secondary Education Department.

After successful completion of the first phase of the initiative in which students from 60 government schools in 14 districts of the province took part, the second phase has been initiated in which 15,000 students would be selected from 300 government schools of KP.

EAP Manager Zeeshan Khan said more than 3000 apps, games and softwares have been developed by students in the first phase of the EAP. Currently, 45-90 willing students are selected from every school.

“Coding is not part of the curriculum anywhere in Pakistan. Spread over a time span of 8 months, the curriculum is designed by Code.Org and MIT Scratch.

Trainers from the IT board teach programming and coding in a fun and interactive manner,” he added.

Under a similar initiative of the KPITB, the first phase of the Youth Employment Programme (YEP) has successfully trained 2,100 students in various courses, including game development, which is a 95 billion dollars’ industry worldwide, digital business communication, blogging and content writing, graphics design, word press, digital marketing, youtube and interactive media, internet of things, full stack development, women in technology and Data Sciences.

The second phase of the (YEP) has been launched with the target of equipping 40,000 students with market oriented digital skills till 2019. According to the Project Director Shuaib Khan, the YEP is part of the government of KP’s new “Digital KP” initiative-which is a four-pillar strategy aimed at expanding internet access, developing digital skills, improving digital governance, and promoting digital economy in the province.