By Hasan Salahuddin

China’s landmark AI+ Education Action Plan, unveiled in April 2026, is drawing global attention for its broad effort to integrate artificial intelligence across all levels of learning — from primary schools and universities to vocational training and lifelong education — offering Pakistan important lessons as it begins implementing its own National AI Policy 2025.

The plan, jointly issued by five Chinese government departments, seeks to establish a comprehensive AI literacy system by 2030 covering all stages of education and wider society. According to Xinhua, China’s education system currently serves around 280 million students across nearly 440,000 schools.

China has already set measurable benchmarks for AI education. According to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, every primary and secondary school student in Beijing completes at least eight hours of AI-related coursework annually, while AI adoption across schools in the capital reached 87.7 percent by the end of 2025.

Beyond classroom instruction, the plan also aims to integrate AI knowledge into teacher qualification examinations and certification systems, establish a national educational intelligent computing service platform and strengthen collaboration between educational institutions and industries.

For Pakistan, the developments coincide with the rollout of the National AI Policy 2025, approved by the federal cabinet in July 2025, which outlines significant human capital targets.

The policy aims to train 200,000 individuals annually, prepare 10,000 trainers by 2027 and provide 20,000 stipend-based internships each year. Its implementation framework also targets upskilling one million new and existing IT graduates in AI and related technologies.

Despite these ambitions, Pakistan still faces a considerable skills gap. According to the National AI Policy 2025, less than 10 percent of the country's workforce currently possesses AI-related skills.

The urgency has become more pronounced in light of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, which projects that 39 percent of workers’ core skills will change by 2030, making AI literacy and workforce preparedness increasingly critical.

Speaking with Wealth Pakistan, Safa Shoaib, CEO of The Holistic EDvisor, said educational institutions were already experiencing AI integration, even if many had yet to formally acknowledge it.

"We are already living in a reality where teachers are using AI to create lesson plans and assignments, students are using AI to complete them, and teachers are then using AI tools to grade those same submissions," she said.

She warned that education systems were moving toward a "bots talking to bots" environment and stressed that foundational generative AI literacy should become mandatory across schools and universities.

Shoaib also pointed out that Pakistan’s reliance on external examination systems such as Cambridge created a disconnect between classroom realities and slower-moving assessment structures.

She further noted that smartphone penetration in Pakistan significantly exceeded literacy rates, presenting opportunities for AI-powered tools to bridge educational gaps.

Referring to UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework, she emphasized that any national strategy must ensure equitable access to AI literacy and teacher training to prevent widening educational inequalities.

Khet Kumar, AI Education Consultant at Punjab Education, Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority (PECTAA), said China’s AI+ Education Action Plan represented a strong signal for countries seeking to prepare their education systems for future demands.

He said China was redesigning its education ecosystem around workforce readiness, innovation and future skills while recognizing AI as an essential form of literacy.

Kumar noted that China was integrating AI education from early schooling through university levels and stressed that Pakistan could no longer afford delays in this area.

He said teacher readiness remained central because educators ultimately drive classroom transformation.

AI education, he added, should not remain confined to elite private institutions, pointing to early efforts by Red Pi, an educational technology company working to increase AI awareness within Pakistan’s K-12 ecosystem.

Khubaib Zafar, EdTech Consultant at NextGen Pedagogues, said China had positioned AI education as a national necessity rather than an optional subject.

He argued that Pakistan should move beyond broad policy targets and establish practical implementation milestones.

Zafar said Pakistan should prioritize centralized infrastructure by creating national AI learning hubs and zero-rated platforms to ensure students in underserved areas are not excluded.

He also proposed a mobile-first AI curriculum using existing educational platforms such as Taleem Ghar and TeleSchool.

On teacher readiness, he noted that China had integrated AI knowledge into teacher certification processes and suggested linking Pakistan’s target of training 10,000 AI trainers with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) through mandatory certification requirements.

He further proposed linking incentives for the IT sector with active industry participation and embedding the planned 20,000 annual AI internships within software companies so students gain practical experience through real-world projects.

China’s AI+ Education Action Plan offers Pakistan not a model to replicate directly, but an opportunity to adapt key lessons to local needs. From curriculum reform and teacher training to industry collaboration and accessible learning platforms, translating policy ambitions into classroom realities will require coordinated efforts across government, academia and the private sector.

Credit: INP-WealthPk