The seventh National IT Competition for Youths with Disabilities has ended successfully.

The day-long contest was organised by the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) of the ICT Division on Saturday at the BUBT University campus in the capital's Mirpur in collaboration with the Center for Services and Information on Disability (CSID) and the Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT).

The Executive Director (Grade-1) of BCC Ranajit Kumar was present as the chief guest while Md. Shamsul Huda FCA, chairman of the Board of Trustee of BUBT and Khandaker Jahurul Alam, executive director of CSID, were present as special guests at the closing and award ceremony of the event.

Chaired by Pro-Vice Chancellor of BUBT Professor Dr. Md. Ali Noor, BCC Director (Training & Development) Engr. Md. Golam Sarwar gave a welcome address on the programme.

Ranajit Kumar said that the national IT competition is crucial for youth with disabilities in our country. It provides a remarkable platform to showcase their skills, and talents in the field of information technology, thereby creating an opportunity for massive expansion of ICT practice.

"Such arrangements contribute to encouraging youth with disabilities as well as reducing barriers and challenges faced by persons with disabilities in accessing education and employment opportunities in the ICT field", he added.

Prof Md Ali Noor said that it will be difficult to build a smart Bangladesh by leaving out the disabled people of society. This competition is very essential as part of the preparation of people with disabilities as suitable human resources for Bangladesh by the year 2041, as promised by the government, Prof Noor said.

Executive Director of the CSID Mr. Khandaker Jahurul Alam motivated the young talented disabled people who participated from all over the country. He said that youth with disabilities will have a role in building the smart Bangladesh of the future. So he urged everyone to work together.

A total of 117 contestants from all over the country participated in this competition in 4 categories where Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and internet usage skills are tested.

The top three winners from each category, i.e. a total of 12 contestants in 4 categories, were awarded. Besides, one from each category i.e. 4 meritorious names in 4 categories are declared as the winner by the organizing authority.

Each winning contestant was awarded a Samsung brand smartphone, crest, and certificate, along with gift items from Genweb2 Company. The winners will get the opportunity to participate in the advanced training course conducted by BCC free of charge, and the best four out of the 12 prizewinners will get the opportunity to participate in the international competition held in Dubai next October shared by the Manager (Systems) of BCC and the Coordinator of this event Md. Golam Rabbani.

Besides, a travel allowance is provided by the organizing authority to every competitor coming from all over the country.