KP govt trains more than 3000 students in software programming under EAP

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has trained more than 3000 students from grade 6th to 9th in software programming under Early Age Programming (EAP) initiative launched by KP IT Board (KPITB) in collaboration with Elementary and Secondary Education department.

According to EAP Manager Zeeshan Khan, more than 3000 apps, games and software have been developed by students in first phase of the program.

45-90 students are selected from every school who not only play games on smart phones but are taught to develop games and applications.

After successful completion of 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 will be selected from 300 government schools of KP.

“Coding is not part of curriculum anywhere in Pakistan. Spread over a time span of 8 months, the curriculum is designed by code.org and MIT Scratch which is the same curriculum adopted globally.

Trainers from the IT board teach programming and coding in a fun and interactive manner.” He added While commenting on the initiative, Minister for Elementary and Secondary education Atif Khan stated that best way for Pakistan to prosper is to equip and train our children with modern technology and that is the top priority of our government and education policy.

“Our kids are our future and we want to empower our future with the right kind of technology and skills.

Every child in the future will rely on technology and will be successful if they are powerful users of technology that surrounds us.” he added.

Under a similar initiative of the KPITB, the first phase of Youth Employment Program (YEP) has successfully trained 2100 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 & Interactive Media, Internet of Things, Word Press, 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, YEP is part of KP government new “Digital KP” initiative which is aimed at expanding internet access, developing digital skills, improving digital governance, and promoting digital economy in the province.

“These courses are aimed at promoting key digital skills that are in high demand in today’s digital economy.

Most of our graduates have started generating income through online marketing and selling of various products.

We have developed their capacity, provided them with the necessary tools and techniques necessary for earning a livelihood over the internet” he said.