Pakistan partners with Meta to launch AI Faculty Training Program

ISLAMABAD: To bolster AI education in Pakistan, the federal Ministry of IT and Telecommunication (MoITT) partnered with Meta to launch a national AI Faculty Training Program, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the National Computing Education Accreditation Council (NCEAC).

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, chaired a high-level meeting to review the program’s framework and strategic rollout.

The meeting was attended by Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman NCEAC, senior officials from MoITT, CEO 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 Minister termed the initiative a model of public-private-academic synergy aimed at preparing Pakistan’s higher education sector for the digital future.

The program introduces a two-track approach: AI Soft Skills training for over 1,000 non-technical university faculty and AI Hard Skills certifications—including Meta’s LLaMA credentials via Coursera—for 250–500 technical faculty, across Pakistan.

Minister Khawaja emphasized that Artificial Intelligence is not just a technical tool but a transformative force across sectors like education, health, agriculture, and governance. She assured MoITT’s full support in the program’s nationwide rollout, policy alignment, and integration with the forthcoming National AI Policy and other digital skills initiatives.

Looking ahead, the Minister proposed deeper collaboration through student-centric AI training phases, localization of content in Urdu and regional languages, and embedding AI ethics and safety frameworks.

She also recommended the launch of joint dashboards to monitor progress and proposed the creation of a long-term AI Faculty Development Fund. Appreciating the leadership of Chariman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, NCEAC team and Meta, she emphasized that equipping faculty with GenAI knowledge is vital to building a future-ready, AI-literate workforce for the global digital economy.