Dr. Shakeel Ahmad

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where fragile economies and limited formal employment have long pushed young people toward low-paid informal work or migration, Alkhidmat Foundation’s Bano Qabil program has emerged as a deliberate attempt to change that calculus. Framed as a province-wide, no-cost IT program, which aims not simply to teach code or graphic design but to create a pipeline of credentialed, work-ready talent that could reshape local labor markets, raise household incomes and accelerate digital adoption across business and public services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Launched in phases and promoted through Alkhidmat’s district network, Bano Qabil offered brief, intensive courses in subjects that employers and online marketplaces prize: web development, digital marketing and freelancing, cyber security, mobile app development, AI fundamentals and more than two dozen other modules. The program’s modular design, most classes run roughly three months, two hours a day, reflects an explicit trade-off: shorter training that prioritizes practical, portfolio-building work over long academic credentials. That structure is central to the program’s promise: rapid upskilling for a labor force that needs immediate, marketable abilities.

Under the program over a million candidates have been registered and among them thousands have been placed into courses across the province. The foundation then signaled an aggressive expansion plan: increasing active training centers from about 20 to as many as 50, with an explicit aim of covering every district. That scale matters in a province where geography, transport and social barriers routinely limit access to centralized training in larger cities.

The program combined local delivery with formal partners. Course listings and local announcements showed cooperation with provincial institutions and a claim that certificates would be accredited by relevant industry and government bodies, an important point for employers weighing the value of short-course credentials.

In terms of its impact, for many graduates, the most tangible early effect is income that did not exist before: short freelancing gigs, small website contracts for local businesses, and part-time roles that pay immediately. These opportunities are significant in a province where formal wage jobs are scarce. The program’s emphasis on portfolio projects, tangible deliverables students can show to clients, increases the likelihood that trainees will convert skills into paid work. Evidence from local program reporting and student testimonials suggests that at least some alumni have begun to monetize skills in domestic markets and on international freelancing platforms.

The program now has been lowering hiring frictions for local firms. As small and medium enterprises across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pursue digitization, from simple websites to online storefronts and basic data management, access to local, reasonably priced talent will matter. A larger supply of entry-level IT workers reduces the cost and delay of finding help, enabling more businesses to adopt digital tools. Over time, that can increase productivity across local commerce, tourism services, agriculture value chains and municipal services.

The program also aims to boost female economic participation and social multiplier effects. Alkhidmat prioritized women-friendly centers and schedules that allowed female students to attend while balancing household responsibilities. Increasing women’s participation in the digital economy has outsized effects: when women earn independently, evidence from development studies shows improvements in household welfare, children’s education and longer-term mobility. In conservative districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a locally delivered, no-cost program that respects social norms is one of the few scalable routes to women’s economic entry.

The program is preparing talent for the remote-economy transition. Pakistan’s growth in remote work and freelancing has been real but uneven geographically. If a province like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can produce a critical mass of vetted, project-ready workers, it can plug into global freelance marketplaces and remote hiring channels. That matters not only for individual earnings but for the provincial tax base, formal business formation and the creation of local micro-enterprises that supply digital services. The aggregate effect, modest per-person income gains multiplied over tens of thousands of workers, could be appreciable for the provincial economy.

But here is a huge challenge that will define the program’s trajectory. Funding and donor engagement is crucial. An expansion from 20 to 50 centers and the goal of reaching tens of thousands of students depend on predictable financing: equipment, internet bandwidth, instructor stipends, and operational costs do not vanish after an initial launch. Alkhidmat’s model relies on philanthropic support and partner institutions; for Bano Qabil to sustain and scale, donors, domestic philanthropy, corporate partners and international funders, must step forward with multi-year commitments. Without that, centers risk intermittent closures, outdated equipment and an inability to retain qualified instructors.