Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday ordered a comprehensive review of information technology education in Pakistani universities after expressing dissatisfaction over the poor performance of students in a nationwide skills competency test. Chairing a high-level meeting on higher education in the IT sector, the prime minister directed authorities to align IT education and training offered by universities with the requirements of international markets and emerging technologies, a Prime Minister’s Office news release said.
“Young people must be equipped with skills that meet global industry demands,” the prime minister said, adding that, unfortunately, IT education in most universities was not aligned with contemporary technological requirements.
The meeting was briefed on the results of the National Skills Competency Test recently conducted by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to assess the capabilities of IT graduates and evaluate whether university curricula were producing graduates with market-relevant skills. According to the briefing, 33,038 students from 190 higher education institutions across the country participated in the test, which was conducted under strict monitoring and transparent procedures at centres established in various cities. The results revealed significant gaps in students’ competencies. Only 0.4 per cent of participants secured more than 80 per cent marks, while 3.6 per cent scored between 68 and 79 per cent. Another 13.2 per cent obtained between 58 and 67 per cent marks, and 21.3 per cent scored between 50 and 57 per cent. A majority of 61 per cent students failed to achieve even 50 per cent marks. Expressing concern over the outcome, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the results unsatisfactory and stressed the need for urgent reforms in higher education, particularly in the IT sector.
The prime minister directed that a third-party audit of IT education and training programmes being offered by universities across Pakistan be conducted to identify deficiencies and recommend corrective measures. He also instructed relevant authorities to present, at the earliest, a comprehensive roadmap aimed at equipping students with advanced skills in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, data science, robotics and other cutting-edge technologies.
The officials informed the meeting that reform efforts had already begun in light of the test results, with work underway to improve curricula, teaching standards and industry relevance of IT programmes nationwide.