Future of AI Learning in India’s School Curriculum: Building the Foundations of a Digital Nation

CBSE’s AI pilots with industry partners since 2019 have already reached lakhs of students and teachers with exactly such projects.

India is set to become one of the first major nations to make AI literacy a foundational skill from Class 3 itself. Starting 2026-27, every child in NCERT and CBSE schools will study Artificial Intelligence and Computational Thinking (CT) - a landmark decision by the Ministry of Education that brings the National Education Policy 2020 and NCF 2023 to life.

This is not about turning eight-year-olds into programmers. It is about raising a generation that understands and shapes technology instead of merely consuming it.

From Consumers to Creators

Imagine a Class 3 student sorting toys by size and colour to discover patterns - the first step in computational thinking. By Class 6, the same child might use block-based coding to create a simple chatbot that follows ethical rules they helped write. In Class 9, students could analyse real datasets to spot gender or regional bias in AI recommendations. These are the kind of hands-on, age-appropriate activities the new framework envisions.

From Policy to Practice

CBSE’s AI pilots with industry partners since 2019 have already reached lakhs of students and teachers with exactly such projects. Scaling this nationwide will demand massive teacher training - nearly 10 million educators need continuous upskilling - plus localised content in 22 scheduled languages and robust digital infrastructure in rural classrooms. Industry-academia collaboration is no longer optional; it is the bridge between vision and reality.

A New Architecture for Learning

Tomorrow’s NCERT textbooks might well be hybrid: printed pages with QR codes linking to interactive simulations, AI tutors that adapt to each child’s pace, and project dashboards that give real-time feedback. Assessments will move from rote recall to adaptive tests that truly measure reasoning and creativity.

Critically, ethics is baked in from day one. Children will learn to ask: “Who might this algorithm harm? Whose data is missing?” This blend of curiosity, critical thinking, and conscience is what will give Indian talent its global edge.

Preparing for the Future of Work

By 2030, 90 % of jobs will require digital skills, yet most will also demand human qualities AI cannot replicate - empathy, ethical judgment, collaboration. Early exposure to AI ensures our children enter the workforce not as replaceable coders, but as irreplaceable innovators and decision-makers.

At NIIT, we have long championed outcome-driven, adaptive, lifelong learning. The school-level foundation being laid today will seamlessly feed into higher education and skilling ecosystems tomorrow.

The Road Ahead

The roadmap is ambitious, but the stakes are higher. Success depends on sustained investment in teacher capacity, inclusive digital infrastructure, and deep public-private partnerships.

If we get this right, Indian classrooms will do something extraordinary: they will not just teach children about AI - they will teach children with AI, alongside AI, and, most importantly, how to keep AI human.

When that happens, we will not just have a digitally skilled nation. We will have launched the curious, creative, and compassionate minds that will lead the next wave of global innovation.

By- Anshumaan Prasad, Business Head, NIIT Digital and Head of Marketing, NIIT Limited