Zain Bahrain, a leading telecom services provider, has launched a scholarship and award initiative for Bahraini high school girl students in a bid to encourage Bahraini women to take up careers in IT.

The Zain Bahrain IT Project Award is a collaborative effort with the Royal University for Women (RUW) and the prizes included cash awards and scholarships for the winners to study IT at the RUW.

The emphasis is on innovation and competitors had a choice to choose from three projects – the design and creation of a global website project that reflects the geographical or historical significance of the Kingdom of Bahrain; creating an application or game using any programming language or any software in the most innovative way possible.

The entries were judged by professionals in the IT field with three top prizes of BD 1000, BD 500 and BD 250 for the first three winners respectively. In addition, the top three winners are accepted for study in the IT department of the RUW.

“Zain Bahrain has a rich tradition of encouraging women in every field and as a technological leader, our women staff have contributed al lot to our progress,” said corporate communications manager Samya Hussain.

“We believe that the area of IT offers equal opportunities for men and women and is well in keeping with the Vision 2030 goals of our leaders,” she added.

“Through this first-ever awards event for high school girl students, we believe that we can open an exciting gateway for young girls and women for careers in IT.  We believe that this encourages them to think out of the box and value creativity in the IT arena,” Hussain concluded. – TradeArabia News Service