From feeders to trainers

Saylani aims to prepare a million software developers 

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. In a city marred with unemployed youth, Saylani Welfare Trust has taken an initiative to take this proverb seriously.

From feeding the poor in soup kitchens on the streets, the trust has taken a step further with the ambition to add one million software developers to the job market. This year, the programme will take on board some 32,000 aspirants who will be provided with a platform without charges.

To make it a reality, grand entry tests were held in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad and Karachi last month in which around 72,000 candidates appeared.

The qualifying test in Karachi was arranged at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium where 20,000 candidates appeared out of which 12,000 are to be selected. The successful candidates will learn the latest courses in the disciplines of Metaverse, Web 3.0 and Artificial Intelligence. The programme is part of the Saylani education board which aims to promote entrepreneurship and startups in the country.

The journey started in 2013 with a batch of 200 learners of different IT programmes. The number has gone up to 50,000 students in the past nine years.

Muhammad Ghazzal, Director and COO of Saylani Welfare Trust, while talking about the inspiration behind the programme said unemployment remains the biggest issue in our society. “Having identified the core issue of the destitute, our team started thinking about the need to create opportunities for our youth and we came out with the idea to educate people keeping in view the contemporary needs of the market”, he explained. “Currently, around 35,000 certified students of our programme are earning 50,000 rupees monthly on average,” he apprised.

To make Pakistan a leading provider of tech services, the trust is focusing on imparting skills in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud Native Computing and the Internet of Things. The training is being supervised by Zia Khan, who has extensive experience in software architecture, design, development, implementation, and integration.

He has worked as a developer in Silicon Valley for seven years along with startup projects like Panacloud, OpenPD, Datasplash, and Unicharts.

The other programmes offered by Saylani are Data Sciences, Graphics Designing, Video Editing, Video Animations, Microsoft Office Specialist, Certified Computer Operator, Certified Computer Accountant, IT Essential, Cisco Certified Network Associate, Cyber Security and Network Essentials.

Ghazzal believes that since more than 60 per cent of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 30 and global opportunities have the potential to benefit both young men and women significantly, there is a need to invest more in their skills to help them in turning their ideas into new products, services and profitable businesses to benefit all.

Highlighting flaws in the curriculum, he said it has not been revised to the modern needs. He emphasised the need of planning according to the demands of the developed world.

photos: athar khan/Bol News