Speaking at a session titled “Taking Pakistan’s IT Industry to the Next Level”, jointly organised by the American Business Forum (ABF) and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Saturday, the minister highlighted the shortage of skilled professionals as a major challenge for the country’s IT sector.
She said around 33,000 seventh- and eighth-semester computer science students had taken a national baseline assessment, but only 0.4 per cent scored above 80 per cent, while around 4pc achieved scores above 68pc across 10 employability competencies.
“The jobs are there. The opportunity is there. But the right people with the right skills are not there,” she said.
The minister called for structural reforms in academic curricula, teaching methods and the K-12 education system to better prepare students for employment in the technology sector.
She also stressed the need to strengthen Pakistan’s broader digital ecosystem, including fibre-optic connectivity, mobile broadband infrastructure and regulations governing satellite services.
The minister said improving digital infrastructure alongside workforce skills would be essential to unlocking the country’s IT export potential and enabling the sector to compete more effectively in international markets.
