By Aamir Ali Shar

Pakistan’s challenge in the age of artificial intelligence is not just about using technology. It’s about being ready as an institution. Around the world, AI tools are now widely used in schools and research, with estimates suggesting that nearly 93 percent of students use AI in some form for their studies. About two-thirds of universities have started using AI in some way. However, this change is not happening equally or completely. Only about 1 7 percent of teachers are said to have a good understanding of AI, and many feel unready to teach or assess work that uses AI.

This shows a bigger problem: universities can’t truly be ready for AI if their teachers aren’t. In Pakistan, where higher education already has issues like lack of funding, poor infrastructure, and unequal access, this is even more serious. The talk about AI in education has mostly focused on buying software, platforms, and making policy announcements. But the real issue isn’t the technology—it’s the people, especially the teachers. The key is to build the skills of teachers across all universities, especially in rural and less developed areas.

A National Faculty Development Gap

Even though there’s a lot of excitement about digital change, teacher development in Pakistan is still scattered and not up to date. Globally, nearly 80 percent of teachers say they don’t get enough help in understanding how to use AI responsibly, how to check its work, and how to teach with it. In Pakistan, where support systems for teachers are even weaker, this gap is likely bigger.

At the same time, universities are adopting AI faster than teachers can keep up. About 66 percent of higher education institutions report using AI in some way, but only a small part of teachers are prepared to use these tools in their classes, exams, or research. This creates an imbalance—technology is progressing on paper, but classrooms are not changing in real life.

First Priority: A National AI Literacy Program for Faculty

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) should start a mandatory national program to improve AI literacy among university teachers. This shouldn’t just be short sessions—it needs to be ongoing training.

The program should cover basic AI knowledge, how to use prompts properly, using AI ethically, keeping academic honesty in a world with AI, and using machine learning for research. Also, the training needs to be tailored to different subjects. Teachers in computer science have different needs than those in social sciences, business, or the humanities.

Without proper training, AI might not be used well or might be used in the wrong way in schools.

Second Priority: Addressing Rural-Urban Inequality

The digital divide in Pakistan is not the same everywhere—it’s more serious in rural areas. Rural universities often face problems like poor electricity, weak internet, and limited access to digital learning tools. These issues are real and decide who benefits from new technology and who gets left out.

This gap is already seen in education. More students attend schools in cities than in rural areas, and results vary greatly between districts. In Sindh and other provinces, rural institutions often perform worse than urban ones in both access and success.

A dedicated Rural University AI Fund could help fix this problem by providing better infrastructure, internet access, devices, and local training. Without focused efforts, AI could

make existing differences worse instead of helping to reduce them.

Third Priority: Embedding Faculty Readiness in Quality Assurance

Policies often focus on making more infrastructure, but they ignore the human side. This needs to change by including AI literacy and teacher readiness in accreditation and quality control systems.

If two-thirds of universities are using AI tools but fewer than one-fifth of teachers are fully ready to use them, then the institutions are moving faster than the teachers can keep up.

Accreditation bodies must check not just whether universities have the tools, but whether teachers are trained to use them correctly and responsibly.

This change would push universities to invest in real training, not just a show of digital progress.

Fourth Priority: Strategic Partnerships

No single university can build AI skills alone. Many universities, especially outside major cities, don’t have enough resources to develop strong training programs. Working with tech companies, international universities, and research centers can help fill this gap.

These partnerships could support training programs, joint research projects, teacher exchanges, and access to new AI tools. They can also help teachers learn from global best practices for using AI in teaching and assessment.

Finally: Aligning Budget with Ambition

Pakistan’s goal to train a million people in AI and build a knowledge-based economy needs long-term investment. However, the current budget for education is not enough to reach these goals.

Without targeted funding for teacher training, digital tools, and rural access, national plans may stay as ideas rather than real actions.

Conclusion: The Real Measure of AI Readiness

The real sign of Pakistan’s readiness for AI will not be how many tools are used or how many policies are made. It will be whether teachers at all universities—both in cities and rural areas, from top schools to under-resourced ones—are empowered to use AI in teaching, assessment, and research.

AI has the potential to change higher education in Pakistan. But if this change is uneven, it could deepen the gaps instead of closing them. A clear national plan must recognize a simple truth: technology doesn’t change education—teachers do.

Without investing in teachers, Pakistan’s AI revolution will remain incomplete.