In a landmark move to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education, the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication (MoITT) has partnered with the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Meta, and the National Computing Education Accreditation Council (NCEAC) to launch a national AI faculty upskilling initiative.

Chaired by Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, a high-level meeting was held here on Friday to officially announce the Faculty AI Training Program. The initiative brings together key stakeholders from the public, private, and academic sectors to prepare Pakistan’s universities for the AI-driven digital future.

The meeting was attended by Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman NCEAC, senior MoITT officials, the CEO of the Pakistan Software Export Board, and representatives from Atom Camp. Meta’s delegation was led by Sarim Aziz, Director of South and Central Asia Public Policy.

The initiative adopts a two-pronged training approach: AI Soft Skills Track: Targeting over 1,000 non-technical university faculty to promote foundational AI literacy. AI Hard Skills Track: Providing specialized certifications for 250-500 technical faculty, including credentials from Meta’s LLaMA model via Coursera.

Minister Khawaja highlighted AI’s potential beyond the tech sector, describing it as a transformative force across education, health, agriculture, and governance. She assured MoITT’s full support in scaling the program nationwide, aligning it with the upcoming National AI Policy, and integrating it into existing digital skill development efforts.

Looking to the future, the Minister proposed further expansion of the program to include student-focused training, content localization in Urdu and regional languages, and the incorporation of AI ethics and safety principles. She also suggested developing joint dashboards for tracking progress and establishing a long-term AI Faculty Development Fund.

Minister Khawaja praised the leadership of HEC, NCEAC, and Meta, underlining the importance of GenAI literacy among faculty to build an AI-ready workforce for Pakistan’s digital economy.