Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has formally launched the E-Learn She Earn programme, a Pakistani Rupees 700 million initiative designed to equip thousands of women across Punjab with high-demand digital skills and create pathways for them to participate in the global gig economy from their homes. The programme aims to bridge the digital divide by equipping thousands of women across Punjab with high-demand digital skills, and is being implemented jointly by the Punjab Skills Development Fund and the Women Development Department Punjab. The scale of the budget and the breadth of the implementing partnership signal a level of institutional commitment that goes well beyond a pilot initiative, positioning E-Learn She Earn as one of the more substantive provincial investments in women-focused digital workforce development seen in Pakistan in recent years.
Under the initiative, selected women will receive free three-month online training in several key areas including digital marketing and e-commerce, graphic design, virtual assistance, and digital customer care, with the government also providing free laptops to selected participants. In addition to free training, selected participants will also receive internet access and a monthly stipend to support their learning process, with the initiative aiming to equip women with market-relevant skills, enabling them to work remotely, start online businesses, and contribute to the digital economy. The combination of skills training, hardware provision, connectivity support, and financial assistance during the learning period addresses the full stack of barriers that have historically prevented women in Punjab, particularly those in smaller cities and rural areas, from accessing and completing digital skills programmes.
The programme is open to women aged 15 to 35 years, while some specialised tracks will accept applicants up to 40 years of age, with applicants required to be permanent residents of Punjab and in possession of a valid Computerised National Identity Card or B-form, while minimum education requirements vary by course. The broad age range and the absence of a rigid educational threshold reflect a deliberate design choice to keep the programme accessible to a wide cross-section of Punjab’s female population, including housewives, school leavers, and women who had to interrupt their formal education. Registration will be conducted through the official portals of the Punjab Information Technology Board and the Punjab Skills Development Fund, with selection based on merit and an initial assessment test.
The programme arrives at a moment when Pakistan’s freelancing sector is already demonstrating strong growth, with the country having ranked 16th globally in the 2026 Ataraxis Global Outsourcing Talent Index and freelancing foreign exchange earnings reaching USD 856 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. For Punjab, which houses a significant proportion of Pakistan’s population and its emerging digital workforce, a province-wide initiative that trains women specifically in the skills most in demand on international freelancing platforms directly feeds into the country’s broader ambition to grow its technology exports and expand the base of professionals contributing to digital foreign exchange earnings.
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