New Delhi: In a great move for school education, India has launched one of the world’s largest teacher training initiatives focused on Artificial Intelligence. The programme, titled ‘AI Literacy for Teachers’, aims to train over one million teachers by 2027, making AI a core part of everyday classroom teaching rather than just an optional tool.
The initiative has been launched by Bodhan AI, a Centre of Excellence in AI for Education incubated at Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
The announcement was made by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at the IIT Madras Technology Summit held at Bharat Mandapam on 5 May 2026.
AI BECOMES A CLASSROOM ASSISTANT, NOT JUST A TOOL
The programme is designed to fundamentally reshape how teaching is delivered across India. Instead of treating AI as an add-on, it positions it as a daily teaching assistant for educators.
Teachers will be trained to use AI in areas such as:
- Lesson planning
- Content creation
- Student assessments
- Feedback systems
The idea is to make AI an integrated part of teaching workflows across schools in India.
‘FUTURE-READY INDIA’ VISION
Speaking at the launch, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the initiative is a key step toward building a future-ready education system.
He said: “As we move from vision to execution, initiatives like the AI Literacy Program for Teachers are pivotal. By integrating AI into everyday classrooms, we are not merely introducing technology; we are empowering our teachers to become architects of a future-ready India.”
He added that training one million teachers represents not just scale, but the foundation of a responsible and ethical AI ecosystem aligned with India’s long-term education vision.
BUILDING INDIA’S AI CLASSROOM ECOSYSTEM
According to Professor V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, the strength of India lies in its scale and diversity, and technology must adapt accordingly.
He noted that AI literacy among teachers is essential for meaningful adoption in classrooms, helping improve teaching quality and learning outcomes at scale.
Dr Mitesh Khapra, Principal Investigator at Bodhan AI, added that the goal is to make AI a “trusted co-pilot for every teacher in India”, helping reduce workload and improve classroom engagement.
WHAT THE PROGRAMME WILL DELIVER
The AI literacy initiative aims to reduce teacher workload and improve education quality through:
- AI-based lesson planning and content generation
- Automated and handwritten answer evaluation
- Multilingual translation tools
- Administrative support systems
- AI-powered student tutors
This creates a fully integrated AI-enabled classroom ecosystem rather than isolated digital tools.
HOW WILL IT BE IMPLEMENTED
The programme will be launched in phases, with pilot testing over the coming months. The first public cohort is expected on Teachers’ Day (5 September 2026). From there, it will scale rapidly to reach 1 million teachers by 2027.
The initiative will be implemented in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Education, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, state governments, and partner institutions.
