Beware of AI in education |
The recent initiatives from the Sindh and Punjab provinces to introduce AI in government schools for teachers and students mark an important moment for Pakistan's education system. This is the first time AI is entering schools at scale. Yet this bold step also reveals a critical gap. Pakistan is deploying AI in education without a dedicated governance policy that outlines how such technology should be assessed and held accountable.
Pakistan's National AI Policy 2025 provides an extensive, economy-wide vision for innovation, infrastructure and talent development. But education is not just another sector. It involves children, public trust, learning outcomes and long-term social consequences. A general AI policy, by design, cannot appropriately address these complexities. Thus, initiatives by Sindh and Punjab need an urgent standalone AI-in-Education Policy.
Global experience strengthens this argument. For instance, Unesco's global framework on AI in education stresses that AI literacy is not just about using tools, but about understanding ethics, bias,........