Major Skills Deficit Exposed Among Pakistani Graduates in National IT Assessment

A recent nationwide evaluation of information technology students has raised serious questions about the standard of higher education in Pakistan, revealing a deep and alarming skills deficit across universities. According to the National Skills Competency Test, only 0.4 percent of participating students were able to score above 80 percent, indicating extremely limited high-level technical proficiency among graduates. The assessment was presented during a high-level review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, where the overall performance of IT education and workforce readiness was critically examined. Conducted by the Higher Education Commission, the test included 33,038 students from 190 universities across the country under strict monitoring to ensure transparency. The results showed a concerning distribution: just 3.6 percent scored between 68–79 percent, 13.2 percent between 58–67 percent, and 21.3 percent between 50–57 percent, while more than 61 percent failed to reach even the 50 percent mark. Officials described the findings as evidence of a widening gap between academic learning and real-world industry demands. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stressed the urgent need to modernize curricula in line with global technological trends such as artificial intelligence, data science, robotics, and advanced digital systems. He also ordered an independent third-party audit of IT programs nationwide.