“In a world where almost everything has an alternative, technology is the one thing that has none.”
Today, a nation’s plans are written not only in policy documents but also in code. That shift is already visible in Pakistan.
This summer, Punjab approved an AI-powered scanner that screens for five cancers in two minutes. Pakistan’s IT and IT-enabled services exports reached a record $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2025-26, according to the Pakistan Software Export Board.
In the same season, however, Lahore Board’s Class 9 pass rate fell to 46.51%. Fewer than half of the candidates passed exams that still mostly reward memorisation.
These two pictures describe the same country. One is building the tools of the future. The other is still teaching children as if that future is not coming. So the question for Pakistan’s education system is simple. Are we preparing our students for this reality, or leaving them in classrooms that belong to the past?
For years, the case for technology-driven education was made mostly by advocates. It now has official backing.
In July 2025, the federal cabinet approved Pakistan’s first National AI Policy. It aims to train one million people in artificial intelligence by 2030 and to bring AI into schools and universities.
Punjab has gone further. It approved AI as a compulsory, standalone subject for Grades 1 to 5 from the 2027-28 academic session, with its own class period and its own exam. In August, the province then took an in-principle decision to make AI a compulsory subject in government schools, along with plans to modernise computer labs.
Separately, students in Classes 8 to 10 are to receive training in AI concepts, prompt engineering and responsible use through a Google Gemini programme.
These steps deserve credit. Pakistan is no longer asking whether AI belongs in schools. The harder question is how it gets there.
That question matters because a compulsory subject can easily become one more set of definitions to memorise the night before an exam. AI and robotics are not just subjects. They are the working tools of the coming decades, and they cannot be learned from a textbook alone.
Our system still rewards rote learning. Students may earn high grades yet struggle when asked to solve a real problem, build something new or think critically. Children have a right not only to learn about new technologies but to experiment with them.
A student who builds a robot, writes a program or tests an AI model in a lab understands far more than one who only reads about them. Classrooms alone are no longer enough. Pakistan needs fully equipped labs and innovation hubs in schools, not only in universities.
Assessment must change too. Students should be judged on projects and problem-solving, not exams alone. A robot that helps a farmer, or a chatbot that guides a patient through a hospital system, connects learning to the problems of the community the student lives in.
Countries such as South Korea, Singapore and China built coding and robotics into their school systems years ago. They are now among the world’s leaders in innovation.
Pakistan’s advantage is its youth. The 2023 census found that about 112 million Pakistanis, roughly 47% of the population, are under 18. The country’s median age is about 21.
A population that young is either a demographic dividend or a demographic burden, depending on what we teach it. If we fail to adapt, other nations will pull further ahead while we are still revising syllabi.
Delivering this vision requires action on two fronts, such as giving students tools to innovate, and training teachers to guide them with confidence. No reform can succeed if teachers are unfamiliar with the technology they are expected to teach.
The National AI Policy recognises this through its train-the-trainer targets. But one-off workshops will not be enough. Teachers need continuous professional development so they can demonstrate robotics, explain AI concepts and teach coding without hesitation. A well-trained teacher will inspire far more than any textbook or device.
Civil society is helping to fill the gap. The Mediatiz Foundation, the Islamabad-based edtech non-profit I lead, has developed AI and robotics courses for Pakistani learners. It provides schools with robotics kits, coding platforms, innovation labs and project-based learning models, and trains teachers so the work lasts after the kits arrive.
The broader lesson for government is that equipment without trained teachers ends up gathering dust in a storeroom.
The economic stakes are large. According to State Bank data, freelancers’ earnings from IT services crossed $1 billion for the first time last fiscal year.
Yet much of this work remains in lower-value digital tasks. Skills in AI and robotics would let young Pakistanis move into automation, advanced analytics and product design, which are the parts of the value chain where the real money is.
Startups founded by such students could create jobs and attract investment. Instead of losing its brightest people to brain drain, Pakistan could become a regional hub for innovation. Initiatives such as Punjab’s new AI hub in Lahore show that ambition exists. The school system must now supply the talent.
None of this is possible without infrastructure. Labs, coding platforms, reliable electricity and internet access are essential, especially in underserved areas. According to the 2023 census, Punjab alone has about 9.6 million out-of-school children aged 5 to 16.
A compulsory AI curriculum will mean little to a child who is not in school, or to a school with no working computer. Consider what becomes possible if we close that gap. A student in rural Sindh who learns robotics at school could build a low-cost irrigation robot for local farmers. A student in Islamabad could code a chatbot that helps citizens use government services.
Examples like these are within reach, but only if investment reaches beyond the big cities.
Technical skill must come with ethical judgment. Schools must teach students about the risks of misuse, data privacy, and fairness in algorithms.
It is encouraging that the new Gemini programme includes lessons on AI safety and responsible use. As global technology platforms enter public classrooms, clear safeguards for children’s data must be written into these partnerships from the start.
In an age of AI-generated misinformation, a skill that even journalists are now being trained in, teaching students to question and verify machine output matters as much as teaching them to use it. Pakistan should produce innovators who are skilled and also socially responsible.
The impact of this change would be far-reaching. By encouraging experimentation and practical projects, we turn students from passive learners into active creators. They gain confidence, curiosity and resilience, the qualities that define future leaders.
Pakistan has taken its first real steps with a national policy and a compulsory curriculum. Implementation now depends on many actors working together, such as the federal and provincial governments, schools and parents, and private organisations and international partners.
The path is clear. Preparing students today with the tools of tomorrow will secure their future and strengthen Pakistan’s place in the global economy. The future will not wait, and Pakistan must not delay.
Disclosure: The Mediatiz Foundation, referenced in this column, is led by the writer.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Lahore Times.
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