The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Department has taken a formal step toward integrating artificial intelligence into the academic structure of the province by appointing the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Mardan’s AI Center as the designated provincial hub. This initiative aims to equip students and faculty with necessary AI skills and position KP’s higher education institutions for alignment with global academic standards. In an official directive sent to the Vice Chancellor of UET Mardan, the department has mandated the university to lead AI-centered initiatives across the province’s higher education network.
Under this mandate, UET Mardan will be responsible for organizing specialized training workshops targeting both faculty members and students. These sessions will introduce participants to core AI technologies and practical applications in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. The university is also tasked with developing AI tools that can be adopted across academic institutions to support research, enhance learning, and enable administrative innovation.
To ensure inclusivity, the directive highlights that tuition fees for AI-related programs should be kept affordable. This policy is intended to make emerging technology education accessible to a wider student base and support the province’s goal of building a tech-savvy workforce.
This move is being driven under the leadership of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Minister for Higher Education, Archives, and Libraries, Mr. Meena Khan. A recent high-level meeting was chaired by Mr. Khan to review the province’s strategic goals for technology inclusion. Attendees included UET Mardan Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Gul Muhammad Khan, Special Secretary Mr. Ghulam Saeed, and Dr. Shafiq Ur Rehman, Advisor and Director General, who all contributed to shaping the province’s immediate and long-term roadmap for AI in education.
In preparation for implementing the AI curriculum, the Centre for AI at UET Mardan will develop a comprehensive framework that will be shared with all public sector universities in KP. The framework will provide the structure for academic institutions to incorporate AI training, research modules, and related tools into their syllabi starting from the upcoming academic semester.
To build capacity among teaching staff, summer training camps are being planned to provide faculty members with foundational and applied knowledge in artificial intelligence. These sessions are aimed at preparing educators to effectively deliver AI content in classrooms and research environments.
To formalize the initiative, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will soon be signed between the Higher Education Department and UET Mardan’s AI Center. This agreement will outline the responsibilities of both entities, define timelines, and ensure that the policy is implemented in a structured and timely manner.
