(Mumbai) India plans to provide artificial intelligence (AI) education to children aged 8 and above starting in mid-2026, making AI a basic and universal skill. However, experts have raised concerns about teacher training and a shortage of hardware.
According to Nikkei Asia, the Indian government incorporated AI education into its curriculum as early as 2020. Currently, public schools and some private schools using the government's curriculum provide 15 hours of AI skills courses for students in grades 6-8, and offer AI-related elective courses for students in grades 9-12.
However, the Indian Ministry of Education announced last month that starting in the new school year in mid-2026, the scope of AI education will be expanded to students aged 8-10 (grades 3-5).
Experts have expressed concern about the effectiveness of the AI education plan, believing that implementing a mandatory AI curriculum will be limited by insufficient infrastructure. For example, in a public school in Madhya Pradesh, India's second-largest state, only 35.3% of schools had internet access last school year, while many rural schools had students from multiple grades sharing a single computer lab.
Aiyar, from the Centre for Policy Studies, an Indian think tank, believes the real challenge isn't how to implement AI education in schools, but rather reforming India's overall education system. "India's rote learning system emphasizes memorization, neglecting understanding and internalization of knowledge, and often focuses primarily on passing exams."
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She said, “The most important skill to pass on to the next generation is critical thinking. How do you know the data you receive isn’t an illusion?” She was referring to the tendency of AI models to present incorrect information as fact. Therefore, you must teach students to discern.
Mokapatti, AI Director at the Indian IT Companies Association, said, “AI basic education should be experiential, intuitive, and context-dependent, rather than abstract or technical. For younger students, this can be achieved through games, stories and illustrations reflecting their living environment, including voice assistants, weather apps, or translation tools.”
