Over 10,000 workers will get computer training from ictQatar

Some 10,000 construction workers and other blue-collar expats are to be provided training in the use of computers and information technology (IT) as part of the government's digital inclusion strategy.

Known as Better Connections Programme, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is expanding its digital literacy initiative which is meant for low-income workers.

The idea is to ensure labourers have access to computers and multi-lingual ICT training.

The Ministry has signed agreements with a number of companies to set up rooms or designated space in labour camps where computers could be set up and training provided to workers.

To begin with, 25 such rooms are to be set up and training is to be offered in ICT in different languages, including Arabic, English, Hindi, Nepali, and Bengali.

Deals have also been concluded with charities that will provide volunteers who will train some low-income workers in IT and they would in turn train blue-collar workers in the labor accommodations.

The Better Connections Programme was launched in May last year on the occasion of International Labour Day and this year the Ministry has announced its expansion and said that some 100 computer rooms are to be set up in labour accommodations across the country as part of the initiative.

Qatar is home to more than 1.2 million low-income workers, a vast majority of whom are engaged in the booming construction industry.

The influx of low-income workers continues and they are being engaged in development projects being launched for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. [The Peninsula]