NEW DELHI: The Centre is set to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the school curriculum for all students from Class III onwards from next academic year (2026-27), in what officials called a “strategic national move” to make India’s future workforce AI-ready.School education secretary Sanjay Kumar said CBSE is developing the framework for AI integration across grades. “The challenge will be to reach out to over one crore teachers across the country and orient them in imparting AI-related education,” he said. Citing China and the US as examples, Kumar added, “We need to move fast so that students and teachers are properly aligned with this technology over the next two to three years.”A pilot project is already underway for teachers to use AI tools to prepare lesson plans. “Our objective is to prepare both the learner and the teacher for the digital economy,” Kumar said.The initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommended integrating AI, IoT, and emerging technologies in the curriculum. Already, 18,839 CBSE schools offer AI as a skill subject from Class VI onwards through a 15-hour module, while Classes IX–XII have it as an optional subject. Since 2019, over 10,000 teachers have been trained with help from Intel, IBM, and NIELIT.Student enrolment has surged sharply — 7.9 lakh students from Classes IX–X and over 50,000 from Classes XI–XII opted for AI this year, up from just around 15,000 and 2,000 students respectively when the subject was first introduced in 2019. Experts said AI is moving from “buzzword to basic literacy” as schools increasingly adopt tech-driven learning.At the release of a NITI Aayog report on AI and jobs, CEO B V R Subrahmanyam warned that India’s IT workforce of 7.5 million could shrink to six million by 2030 unless “strategic reorientation” and upskilling are prioritised. “AI is changing work, workers, and the workplace. Around two million traditional jobs could be displaced, but eight million new roles may emerge if we create the right ecosystem,” he said.The report proposed an AI Talent Mission to position India as a global talent hub, predicting 10 million IT jobs and 3.1 million customer service roles by 2030 with coordinated action. “The opportunity is massive but distributed—across healthcare, education, logistics, and creative industries,” it noted.A senior CBSE official said, “AI should not remain a specialised elective but a basic literacy. When today’s third grader graduates in 2035, AI will not be an advantage—it will be a necessity.”
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