Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the education ministry to implement IT as a mandatory subject from Grade 6 in all public schools in Pakistan.

A high-level review meeting on issues concerning the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication was presided over by the prime minister.

The prime minister underlined that one of the government's main goals was to boost the IT industry and increase exports related to IT.

The Prime Minister was updated by the Ministry on a number of active projects during the meeting. Schools in Islamabad are currently upgrading their internet infrastructure as part of the School Broadband Connectivity Project.

The ministry has trained approximately 600,000 persons in general and nearly 50,000 in high-end IT during the fiscal year 2024–2025.

Vocational training centers are being established at esteemed establishments including COMSATS Lahore, NUST, and the International Islamic University Islamabad in collaboration with Huawei.

Leading engineering schools like GIK Institute, UET Taxila, and Mehran University have already incorporated advanced courses in AI, cloud computing, big data, and cybersecurity into their curricula.

Additionally, the Ministry of Federal Education and Huawei will work together to renovate 1,300 laboratories nationally and teach over 146,000 students, which will benefit students in underdeveloped areas.

Shehbaz Sharif gave the ministry instructions to start its training programs in undeveloped areas, especially in Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Islamabad.

He emphasized that the caliber of these programs must be sufficiently good to allow learners to acquire competitive jobs in Pakistan and abroad.