KARACHI: Over 10,000 male and female candidates on Sunday appeared in a free IT courses entrance test organised by the Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) for its next batch of the mass IT training programme.

Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said the encouraging increase in the aptitude of Pakistani youth to learn IT skills guaranteed the bright future of Pakistan.

He said the mass attendance of students in the aptitude test was a clear indicator that Sindhwould become a hub of IT activities in the country.

He added that the overwhelming interest shown by the youth in IT fields would ensure the country`s success.

The governor told the candidates that after completing the IT training course, they would start earning in dollars.

He urged the students to show complete dedication and commitment in learning IT skills to contribute to the Pakistani foreign exchange reserves.

He said that graduates of the IT education programme could easily start earning millions every month through hard work and excellence in their technical fields. He also informed the audiencethat an exceptionally brilliant 12-year-old graduate of the IT learning programme had started earning Rs500,000 every month through his software skills.

He lamented that in the past, students had been handed Kalashnikov rifies to involve them in violent activities. He told the audience that the Governor House, in partnership with the SWIT, had been conducting free IT training programmes for thousands of students from underprivileged families.

The governor said it was his desire that the SWIT would have enrolled all the candidates applying for the ITtraining programme without conducting any qualification tests.

He expressed gratitude to SWIT founder and chairman Maulana Bashir Faroogi for launching the mass IT training initiative to secure the future of Pakistani youth.

He said the rulers should follow in the footsteps of Maulana Faroogi.

Speaking on the occasion, SWIT chief told the audience that Saylani Trust had launched the mass IT training initiative with the aim that Pakistan`s annual software exports should increase to US $100 billion in the next ten years.

He said that Saylani Trust would fully support the government`s drive toincrease Pakistan`s IT sector exports. He also mentioned that graduatesof the mass IT training programme, who came from underprivilegedfamilies, had already started developing lucrative smartphone applica-tions and earning hundreds of thousands of rupees every month.