ISLAMABAD, April 3: Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Tuesday said that National Internship Programme would not only serve as a launching pad for career development but also help the internees in becoming “top-class” IT professionals.

The minister was speaking at the concluding session of a three-day orientation workshop for a batch of 231 internees put at the disposal of the Ministry of Information and Technology and its attached departments for a period of one year. The training would help them gain on-job training and experience.

In an effort to give them the right opportunity at the right time, the minister said that he was sure that the youth had the ability to prove their potential provided they got an enabling environment and opportunity to perform their best.

Mr Leghari said the ministry had already successfully completed a six-month internship programme for over 2,500 internees and 80 per cent of them have got themselves absorbed in the IT industry.

He said the government had made a pioneering effort by offering 200 scholarships to FSc students from remote areas. They were offered a training programme of six weeks by the FAST University which made them excel in its regular admission tests for different MSc programmes in the IT and telecom disciplines, he added.

Awais Leghari urged the NIP internees, especially those who were holding master degrees in various disciplines of information technology and telecommunications to use their time in the ministry and its subsidiaries productively to meet the industry’s demand for top-class workforce.

“Even the government departments which are not at the top of their efficiency level can ultimately benefit from their input and expertise,” the Minister said.

He promised the selected internees that his ministry would provide them a competitive work environment conclusive to learning and he himself would watch over the quality of training imparted to them.