Under the supervision of the Ministry of IT and Telecom, Ignite National Technology Fund launched “National Education Challenge 2020”.
Amin-Ul-Haq the federal Minister said: “Ministry of IT & Telecom is delighted to support all innovative initiatives across various fields that can thwart the impact of this global pandemic. We believe that technology can serve as a great enabler in all sectors especially education.”
The challenge will encompass schools, universities, illiterate adults, and children. The innovators and startups who are working in the education technology space, institutes that are using non-digital or digital mediums and government organizations can apply for funds under this initiative.
This initiative aims to find a scalable solution to Pakistan’s biggest challenge that is illiteracy. The grand finale of this project will occur in July 2020 where 25 innovators will be featured.
The CEO of Ignite Syed Junaid Imam said:
“With over 75 million 3G/4G connections, digitization has enabled us to reach a vast majority of our population-young and adult- we can spread life skills. We believe that we can leapfrog towards a new knowledge-based economy with a focus to achieve a 100% literacy rate.”
In the same event, the Director of National Incubation Center Karachi said: “Our goal is to identify Pakistan’s Top 25 learning innovators. They will have a chance to showcase their solutions to the national media and win prizes worth over Rs.3 million. The challenge is also going to link the innovators to various government and non-government stakeholders.