Bano Qabil Pakistan has launched a new IT Lab in Booni, Upper Chitral, giving local youth access to free IT education and digital skills development opportunities. The announcement places a new learning facility in one of the more remote parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an area where access to quality technology training has traditionally been limited compared to larger urban centres. By opening a lab in Booni, the programme brings its free training model closer to young people who might otherwise need to travel long distances to study IT skills, and it extends the reach of the initiative into a district that sits far from the country’s main technology hubs.
The lab is part of the Bano Qabil programme, which offers free IT education to young people across Pakistan. Bano Qabil describes the new facility as a way of providing quality, free IT education, meaning students in Booni and the surrounding area can enrol without bearing the cost that often keeps technology courses out of reach for families in remote districts. The programme has not shared details on the specific courses to be offered at the new lab, the number of students it expects to enrol, or the timeline for the first batch, so those specifics remain to be announced by the organisers. Prospective students will likely need to wait for further communication from the programme before they can learn how to apply.
The focus on digital skills development reflects a wider push across Pakistan to prepare young people for work in the technology sector and the freelance economy. Digital skills such as basic computing, software use and online work are increasingly relevant to employment, and access to a local lab can make it easier for students to learn these skills without leaving their home district. For young people in Upper Chitral, a nearby facility may also reduce the travel and accommodation costs that can make training in larger cities difficult to afford, and it allows learners to build their skills while staying close to their families and communities. Skills gained at a local lab can also open the door to remote work, which matters in areas where the number of local employers is limited.
The launch of the Booni lab adds to the programme’s efforts to extend free IT training beyond major cities and into areas with fewer educational and career opportunities. As more labs open in smaller towns and remote districts, programmes of this kind can help spread digital skills more evenly across the country, giving young people in places like Upper Chitral a practical route into technology learning. Bano Qabil has not yet shared further information about the new lab, but the opening signals continued expansion of its training network into northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and further details on courses, enrolment and timelines are expected to follow as the facility begins operating.
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