The Higher Education Commission has held a briefing session for universities on its recently revised Computing curriculum, presented by Dr Muhammad Ali Nasir, Advisor in HEC’s Research and Innovation Division, alongside Engr. Waheed Ahmed Mangi, Head of the Academics Division, and Hidayatullah Kasi, Deputy Director Curriculum. The revised curriculum was developed through extensive consultations involving academia, industry, accreditation bodies, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, PSEB, PASHA, the National Computing Education Accreditation Council, and development partners, aligning with HEC’s Undergraduate Education Policy 2023 and representing a significant shift towards competency-based, industry-aligned computing education.
During the briefing session, it was highlighted that the revised curriculum embeds emerging technologies and future skills through 14 specialisation pathways under the Computer Science programme, including artificial intelligence. The new framework moves beyond traditional coursework to include cutting-edge fields such as data science, cybersecurity, robotics, and quantum computing, with the integration of a professional certification component ensuring that students graduate with both a degree and industry-recognised credentials to enhance their employability.
The updated framework was finalised during a five-day National Curriculum Review Committee meeting at the Institute of Business Management in Karachi, supported by the European Union Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector Support Programme through the British Council, aimed at creating a globally competitive and industry-driven Computer Science programme. Higher education institutions have been advised to implement the revised scheme of studies and align their degree programmes and nomenclature accordingly, with effective implementation from Spring 2026. Universities have been given some flexibility in distributing courses across semesters based on factors such as teaching staff availability, though the core specialisation structure and competency requirements remain standardised nationally.
The timing of the rollout carries particular significance given the National Skills Competency Test results that revealed only 0.4 percent of Pakistani computing students scored above 80 percent on a national benchmark assessment, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to order a curriculum audit. The revised HEC curriculum, with its emphasis on industry-aligned competencies and direct involvement from PSEB and PASHA in its design, represents the institutional response that the prime minister’s directive demanded, attempting to close the gap between what Pakistani universities teach and what the country’s expanding technology export sector and global employers actually require, with the specialisation structure specifically designed to ensure graduates are job-ready in artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and other domains driving global technology hiring demand.
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