Zong and Knowledge Platform have launched the next phase of the Zong Digital Scholars Program, marking the International Day of the Girl Child with a plan to bring more young women into Pakistan’s technology-driven economy. According to the company, the program has so far reached more than 50,000 students, including over 5,000 young women, across more than 300 schools in 35 cities. The new phase shifts the focus from broad digital education outreach in schools toward the skills students will need in an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI). The program began in November 2023 as a modest effort covering 60 schools and 3,000 students, built around online math tutoring for Grades 9 and 10, and its growth to more than 50,000 students in under three years shows how far the partnership has scaled.
Over the next year, the program aims to reach 10,000 college and university students, moving beyond the school-age learners it has served until now. Learning will be self-paced and game-based, with a focus on AI, analytical thinking, and problem-solving, skills Zong says are needed to take part in the emerging digital economy. Young women are central to the plan, with about 6,000 of the 10,000 participants, or 60 percent, targeted to be female, and the program aims to create pathways for greater female participation in Pakistan’s digital and technology ecosystem. While the program keeps a nationwide footprint, it will put particular emphasis on underserved communities along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), where access to quality digital learning remains limited.
Nabila Yazdani, Zong’s Director Strategy and Company Spokesperson, said technology can create lasting impact beyond connectivity and that the program reflects investment in future-ready skills, digital inclusion, and greater participation of young women in technology. Umair Ali, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Knowledge Platform, said the company was proud to extend its partnership with Zong on the International Day of the Girl Child, adding that the shared goal is to create learning opportunities for communities that need them most. The messaging follows Zong’s earlier gender-focused commitments, including a pledge made around World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in 2025 to run digital literacy programs for 5,000 young women aged 18 to 24, and an update in January 2026 that put enrolment at 35,000 in-school students with 7,500 certified.
The announcement is a company press release, and it sets targets without reporting results. It does not say how many students have completed the program, how learning outcomes are measured, or whether participants have gone on to jobs, further study, or freelance work, and the 10,000-student goal applies to a one-year window with no stated start date or milestones. Moving into colleges and universities is a meaningful change, because older students are closer to the labour market and can show more directly whether short, self-paced AI and problem-solving courses lead to employable skills. For Zong, the program also serves its positioning as a technology services enterprise rather than only a mobile operator, and the real test will be whether the new phase publishes completion and outcome figures that go beyond enrolment numbers.
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