Zubair Qureshi Islamabad
In an ongoing effort to promote youth education and employment, Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF), the country’s largest skills development fund has joined hands with Pakistan’s cellular and digital services frontrunner, Zong 4G, to launch an online course called ‘How to E-lance’.
The partnership is part of Zongs’s ‘LetsGetDigital’ campaign, aims to support youth in achieving the national digital agenda.
Mobile users that are Zong customers will be provided free internet data to complete the course online. Learners will be rigorously trained for three weeks to develop the skills required to become successful freelance service providers.
The course will equip 10,000 youth with the knowledge to become professional freelancers, teaching these young learners to launch online careers on the world’s top two freelancing platforms: Fiverr and Upwork.
Through the course, students will gain critical knowledge on the best ways to set up their online profiles to gain customers and create a network of clients.
This initiative is part of PSDF | e-Tayyar, the program area dedicated to preparing youth in valuable digital skills, for readiness in employability and income-generating opportunities in the emerging digital world.
As Pakistan becomes the world’s top destination for hiring freelancing professionals, a skilling strategy to help the upcoming work force is imperative to maximize its rise in the international market.
“Leading Pakistan’s ICT-led digital transformation, we take it upon ourselves to upskill the Pakistani youth to make them job-ready in today’s increasingly digital world, shared Mr. Wang Hua, Chairman and CEO Zong 4G. “We’re pleased to have collaborated with PSDF to design the ‘How to E-lance’ course to make our youth future-proof when it comes to employability in a hyper-digitalized marketplace,” he added.
Jawad Khan, CEO PSDF, reiterated, “This is the ideal time to take robust action and direct our youth towards earning opportunities available in the global freelance market.
Our partnership with Zong actively supports them by providing the necessary resources and technical knowledge they need to successfully initiate their journey”.
PSDF is also collaborating with Huawei to provide 300 smart tablets to top PSDF trainees, encouraging them to participate in this course and secure their future.
These steps will expand the digital learning outreach and support even more young people, especially women, who often face mobility challenges to also get digitally connected and establish online careers.
