Questions/Answers

With persisting economic recession in the region, the Government of Punjab considered its duty to steer the educated yet unemployed women and youth of the province in the right direction. Gender-diversity in workplaces being a major social challenge is partially due to deep-rooted cultural barriers in the country. Women often after completing their education, willingly or unwillingly tend to be occupied in their household and private lives. Some working women quit their jobs post marriage, creating gender parity gaps in workplaces. Lack of quality day care facilities for children of working women which are not very common in the country is also a contributing factor of this gender disparity. Chief Minister’s E-Rozgaar Program (previously known as TechHub Connect) is the first successful public service program to operate multiple freelancing institutions/co-working spaces for unutilized women and youth of Pakistan. The Government has rescued unemployed women by helping them earn sustainable income from their desks at home. The initiative evolves around the innovative idea of qualified freelancers giving back to the community by sharing their knowledge, Web/App development, Entrepreneurship & Graphic Designing expertise. The specialized freelancing institutions hold daily workshops for people pursuing freelancing as a career extending over a three-month term, occurring four times a year. The implemented design has erupted economic reform in the region as a majority population is now approaching untapped IT revenue streams through these trainings. A total of 10,000 women are expected to expedite in freelancing skills through the program in the current year with an average income of $300-$400 per candidate. This freelancing hatchery has also incited an entrepreneurial climate among females and continues to do so as fresh startups and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), led by women are emerging each day which has been the core intent of the program.

Punjab Information Technology Board aims to provide quality freelancing trainings to the nation to strive and be on top of the global freelancing market. The program is ‘free of all costs’ so even the poorest and most vulnerable women can participate. As a by-product, the government expects development of IT Service sector and enhancement of IT export revenue generating foreign reserves. The program has provided productive activities to channel energies of the youth into meaningful accomplishments. Collaborations with world IT tycoons including Google, Facebook and IBM are expected to flourish along with shared IT services and introduction of global exchange programs. The initiate shall also reduce digital divide between different districts of Punjab and generate income for smaller districts. However, the heart of the project lies in catering to females who are an unexplored yet lucrative sub-division of country’s population. The program focuses on development of critical soft skills in order to enhance self-employ-ability and self-sustainability of females; by training them to earn online. The initiative aspires to provide young females with opportunities for upward economic and social mobility. It also alleviates the status of women in society by creating female role models who are bread winners of their families.

The program has introduced a distinctively new approach to promote participation of citizens especially poor and vulnerable women. It has introduced new knowledge regimes i.e. global IT techniques, some of which are emerging Web/App development tools (Angular JS, React & React Native) while other are mint business to consumer (B2C) platforms and ways to understand social media marketing tools. With the high quality trainings being completely free to the listeners, the service delivery has catered women of all ages and financial backgrounds. The initiative’s monitoring and evaluation lies under ‘Planning and Development Department of Pakistan, an external regulatory body. This makes the program more evidence based, transparent and easily accessible for information. Both the government bodies ensure women rights are well protected. In most cases women who are shining candidates are promoted for participation and delivery of public service as well by being appointed as a Trainer after passing certain stringent selection criteria. Public service employees are appointed specifically to cater needs of the trainees 24/7. All feedback forms and filling systems are automated increasing student interaction with trainer and the administrator. Feedback on training sessions is obtained from attendees on a daily basis whilst filled complaints are resolved promptly.

The initiative is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the global goals as the program is a call to action to promote gender-diversity in the country, one of the key elements of SDG, ensuring women prosper via financial stability and attain their ambitions with rightful status in the community. The program enhances professional capabilities of multiple groups of population including women, children, elderly and disabled all at the same. The trainings focus on the enhancement of soft skills such as communication, attitude, professionalism and management skills allowing for a well-rounded community of young and old entrepreneurs and freelancers. It helps bring income and social prosperity to many households, allowing for social uplift of the same. Also, in a time when youth are more vulnerable to falling prey to erroneous and possibly disastrous activities, such productive activities would help channel their energies into more meaningful accomplishments. Its unprecedented magnitude and geographical coverage, provides an invaluable opportunity to study the current situation, challenges, prospects and future opportunities for thousands of people to earn income, end poverty and generate employment via the internet.

Gender-Diversity in workplaces being a major social challenge in the country has partially to blame the cultural setback in the region. The public perception of efficiency of the government is measured in terms of job opportunities provided to women and the rate at which they are provided. The economic opportunities that have been generated via this program include ensuring quality education for women of the Nation through better training and development. Creation of wealth for women working from home has fostered community's entrepreneurial climate for women and helped women grow. The program has also resulted in technological commercialization and diversification of local economies. Building and accelerating growth of local industry clusters the program deeply focusing on women participation and minority entrepreneurship to achieve gender equality.

The initiative of the Government of Punjab has helped prosper gender responsiveness by training unemployed and non-working women of the general population. The program has created co-working spaces for sharing of ideas and collaboration between freelancing women inculcating the entrepreneurial spirit among them. The program has also employed women trainers’ expert in global freelancing market to cater the needs of similar gender. Woman are now not only self-employed through freelance training but generating foreign reserve that is imperative for growth of the national economy. Many women have taken a step further by opening their SMEs (small and medium enterprises) such as E-Commerce stores on handicrafts, baking and fitness generating income in the smaller districts of Punjab. All these small factors are adding up to the social uplift of under-developed regions and reducing the digital divide between different regions of Punjab. Trainees not only earn for themselves but also help the other unemployed graduates in future in terms of getting jobs, establishing a vibrant free-lance community across Punjab.

The program is a practical training initiative that leads to direct gateways of promoting gender-responsiveness. Online earning is also achieved as a by-product to end poverty in the country and promote well-being of its people in all forms, some of the prominent SDGs. Being a public service initiative, the program is free of all costs for the general population including women. This consciously or subconsciously leads to economic growth of the Nation. The online income has led to catching up to technological advancements emerging all over the world by not just performing and delivering, but mastering the art of coding, content writing and graphic designing. Pakistan has marked global recognition in the skill by currently ranking as the fourth bestseller freelancing country of the world. Women have been able to satisfy their financial needs and feed themselves and their loved ones whilst working honorably through their desks at home. Women, youth, elders and disabled too are a part of program and economic reform in the country and are contributing energetically to the sustainable growth of the IT industry and the economy. The global connectivity and mutual benefit beyond borders revitalizes global partnerships, sending a transparent message by Pakistan for peace and progression worldwide.

The innovation is original and has been restructured from ‘TechHub Connect’, working under the Umbrella of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB). TechHub Connect was the first of its kind community building co-working space for freelancers in Pakistan. TechHub Connect is also the focal point for freelancing community, especially in Punjab and generally in Pakistan.

The program has been allocated a budget of USD $5.47 million (PKR 547 million) which majorly constitutes of salary costs for trainers. Two types of trainers are envisioned in this program, namely the Master Trainers and the Trainers. Master Trainers are designated to train the trainers for all the 36 districts in Punjab. After the completion of training, the trainers then lead the classroom activities. Twenty-Five (25) e-Rozgaar center have been established in 36 districts of Punjab till date with class room environment, positioning of furniture, networking equipment and monitoring mechanisms installed. Facilitation and safety for trainers and budding freelancers has also been ensured along with allocation of 3,600 laptops by Higher Education Department. All trainees are monitored closely and with tests and feedback to assess their skills and improvement areas. The idea is regulated ritually with evidence-based processes that helps improve project inputs and outputs throughout the project cycle.

Yes

The program has a mass impact on all districts leading to 33,000 student applications being received in 2017. Freelancing has created opportunities for women, youth, elderly and the disabled who are unable to relocate. With females being encouraged to participate, more applications are being received by the day from all 36 districts of Punjab. With awareness on freelancing and impact of the program, other provinces are now actively participating in the innovative idea as well, making it a healthy competition. In the past, having a limited government spending on education and less job opportunities, the country faced setbacks in rapid progression. However, the initiative has successfully set a precedence for many to follow, opening new doors to earnings. These freelancing institutions have brought new opportunities for fresh graduates from all geographical areas who can now employ themselves, work online, form teams and even commence a healthy entrepreneurial journey ahead. The project has a target of opening forty (40) freelancing institutions across Punjab and is more than half way through, with rapid expansion taking over. This model is being replicated in small districts with no universities as well, which is encouraging local population to participate.

With the increasing gap between supply of graduates and demand by industry, freelancing as a career has gained significance as a social and economic contributing factor. The skills, as educational literacy received by the trainees are retained as part of their personalities no matter what career they choose for themselves. These may be utilized for self-employment or in any given workplace. Online earning and training has benefited the underutilized population of the country, reducing hunger and poverty and marking a positive social and environmental footprint. More foreign investments are expected to come to Pakistan, bringing a positive impact to the Nation’s economy.

Since the trends of the world economics are changing, the future lies heavily on digital revolution. The initiative is highly sustainable as the freelancing community is rapidly growing with growth in global IT infrastructure. Online IT services and IT revenue streams are expected to last till the end of times. A total revenue of $5,645 million is created on freelancing platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, 99 Designs and People Per Hour, with a total of 8.7 million satisfied customers and 5.5 million services, annually. Pakistan is currently ranked fourth in the supply of freelancers in the world and expect to position itself even better. Social networking and media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are also expected to grow as part of globalization with a positive impact on masses. In time, people in the region will come up with more innovative ideas as technological advancements leading to spontaneous reduction in unemployment.

Yes

The internally evaluated program is following guidelines from the Planning and Development department and is evaluating the performance under the said metrics, which includes number of students graduated, utilization of funds and average earning per candidate. Trainers go through an induction week where they are thoroughly taken through the curriculum and are asked to prepare and present dummy lectures. The performance of the class is measured by monitoring student attendance through bio-metric devices, online feedback forms and lecture monitoring via Facebook LIVE by Master Trainers, on a daily basis. The program also keeps taps of earnings directly received in the bank accounts of its trainees along with all supporting documents. Monthly evaluations in each institution by an internal elevator and Master Trainers is also performed along with monthly appraisals (every trainer is given his/her score and receives live feedback from the relevant Master Trainer) held at the Head Office. Here, specialized training in presentation, communication and course curriculum are also conducted to ensure persistence in high quality education.

The responses received from unemployed women/youth has boosted confidence in the project where the rationale to train more unemployed individuals into becoming freelancers is becoming imperative. The program has received requests from Universities to accommodate currently enrolled students of 7th and 8th semester since this is the simplest and most straight forward form of earning. The manifold effect created is redeemable through fully trained candidates coming back for more to the Program’s e-Rozgaar Lounge (co-working space) and training other candidates. The internal evaluation has resulted in an earning of USD $47,793 (PKR 5.2 million) presented in Projects & Earnings Summary (see attached Annexure-A), received directly in the bank accounts of its trainees. The program has also provided employment to 237 individuals pertaining from all districts of the Punjab. E-Rozgaar has successfully partnered with Facebook, incorporating their well sought trainings into E-Rozgaar’s curriculum. Facebook also provides free vouchers to Master Trainers to become Blueprint certified. As part of the curriculum post Facebook trainings, students are eligible to enter into a Learning Assessment provided by Facebook. On clearing the learning path, candidates receive Facebook certification apart from the certification received from e-Rozgaar Program. The program intends revising the total target from training 10,000 freelancers to 30,000 freelancers.

Some highlights from indicators used to establish the program include the number of e-Rozgaar centers established across Punjab to develop critical soft skill set of unemployed youth, to enhance women employability and improve access to career growths of the trained youth. Rate of unemployment decreased in trained youth after CM-E-Rozgaar Programme training is also assessed along with continuity of learning advanced skills/education. Other indicators include the number of trained women/youth bringing in foreign exchange by working on different freelancing portals after the CM-E-Rozgaar Program, number of trained women empowered to earn income from different freelance portals after the CM-E-Rozgaar Program. Improvement in morale towards their career of trained cadre after the CM-E-Rozgaar Program. Increase in average income of trained cadre after completing the CM-E-Rozgaar Program i.e. total earning by students/number of graduates and the number of Trainers trained for conducting CM-E-Rozgaar training is also an encompassing factor. The indicators are presented in detail in 'Monitoring & Evaluations; Key Success Factors' (see attached Annexure B), Internal Evaluator’s Report on Factual Findings (see attached Annexure C & D) and Publications in (see attached Annexure-E).

The program has formed official collaborations with many leading freelancing platforms like Cross Over, Fiverr, Wordpress, Upwork, Behance. These collaborations have happened through Master Trainers who are official representatives of local communities for these platforms. E-Rozgaar has also taken Facebook Developer Circle’s in second tier cities of Pakistan, namely Sahiwal, Faisalabad and Gujrat where the leads have been selected from the local E-Rozgaar community of that area. Trainers and lab managers also received an exclusive Facebook FastTrack training by officials from the Singapore office and the Master Trainers sat through the Blueprint certification and formalized a custom learning track according to the need of the course curriculum disseminated in all E-Rozgaar training institutions.

The program requires basic understanding of computers and minimum of 16 years of education, which results in a unanimous feedback of students who are currently enrolled in their Bachelor’s or Master’s to be allowed to sit through the program. These students can benefit from earning through these platforms under expert guidance to help these students maintain their monthly expenses. Although, an evening co-working space has been introduced for existing freelancers in these universities, but students who have the skills but don’t know how to monetize them don’t have a way to learn as of yet. A large number of applications have also been received from housewives who wish to be trained at home through recorded video lectures and webinars rather than coming to these institutions. The model is yet to be finalized, therefore there is cushion for an e-learning program for women that can be introduced. Private institutes can also be included as valid sites for E-Rozgaar trainings institutions and more course tracks additional to the three (3) main domains can be introduced such as Accounting, Finance and others.