Islamabad (GNP): To mark the International Day of the Girl Child, Zong, which describes itself as Pakistan’s leading technology services enterprise, has started the next phase of its Zong Digital Scholars Program together with Knowledge Platform. The initiative is meant to advance digital inclusion and future-ready skills, and to bring more young women into Pakistan’s technology-driven economy.
The program has so far reached over 50,000 students, more than 5,000 of them young women, at 300-plus schools in 35 cities nationwide. The new phase shifts the focus from wide-ranging digital education outreach to preparing young people for a world increasingly shaped by AI.
Over the next twelve months, the program aims to enrol 10,000 college and university students in self-paced, game-based digital courses covering artificial intelligence, analytical thinking and problem-solving. The goal is to close the gap between having access to digital learning and having the skills to take part meaningfully in the emerging digital economy.
Women are at the heart of this phase. About 6,000 young women, or 60% of the intended 10,000 participants, are being targeted, with the aim of widening access to technology education and opening routes into Pakistan’s digital and tech sector. The program will operate nationwide but will give special attention to underserved communities along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), where access to quality digital learning remains a pressing need.
Nabila Yazdani, Zong’s Director Strategy and company spokesperson, said the company sees technology as capable of creating lasting impact beyond connectivity. She said the program reflects Zong’s investment in future-ready skills, digital inclusion and young women’s participation, and its commitment, as a technology services enterprise, to using technology to open up opportunity, inclusion and long-term social benefit.
Umair Ali, Chief Operating Officer of Knowledge Platform, said his company was proud to extend its partnership with Zong on International Day of the Girl Child to broaden access to digital learning across the country. The two partners, he said, will reach 10,000 students, 60% of them young women, and are concentrating on communities that most need such opportunities.
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Through the partnership, Zong says it is pursuing a vision of an inclusive, digitally empowered Pakistan in which access to learning helps young people fulfil their potential. By investing in AI readiness, digital skills and women’s participation, the company says the program supports its wider aim of enabling the country’s digital and intelligent transformation, so that Pakistan’s next phase of innovation is driven by talent, ambition and opportunity.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
