Children will be taught Artificial Intelligence from Grade 3 onwards; CBSE sends draft to NCERT.

The CBSE has prepared a draft of an Artificial Intelligence course for classes 3 to 12 and sent it to NCERT. This course is expected to begin in April 2026, with teacher training to begin soon.

A major change is underway in the country's education system. Children will now be exposed to the world of technology from the earliest grades. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has prepared a draft to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the school curriculum. This course will be for students from Grades 3 to 12. The CBSE has sent this draft to NCERT so that a team of experts can review and finalize it.

According to reports, after receiving the draft from CBSE, an expert committee is being formed to examine this draft AI course. This committee will examine what changes should be made and how to implement them to suit the needs of Indian schools. The curriculum will then be approved and implemented in schools across the country.

The School Education Department of the Ministry of Education has decided to introduce children to AI and computational thinking as early as Grade 3. The aim is to familiarize children with technology and innovative thinking from an early age. The Ministry stated that international AI courses are being studied, but the new Indian curriculum is being developed with the country's educational needs in mind.

Teachers are also being prepared.

Not only will the curriculum be developed, but teachers will also be prepared for it. The Ministry of Education has set a target of developing resource materials, handbooks, and digital content by December 2025. Once the NCERT finalizes the curriculum, teacher training will begin before the April 2026 session, so that AI education can be smoothly introduced in all schools when the new session begins.

So many students selected

Currently, AI is taught as an optional subject in CBSE schools from the 8th grade, but not all students in state education boards have access to this option. The plan is to make AI an optional subject in every school board in the country from the next session. In 2019, CBSE introduced AI as a subject in its curriculum. In the 2024-25 session, approximately 7.9 lakh students from 4,538 schools chose AI as a subject in the 9th and 10th grades, while 50,343 students from 944 schools adopted it at the senior secondary level. This number is expected to increase rapidly in the coming years.

What did the experts say?

According to a report by 'Parakh', an NCERT organization, only 9.52% of school boards in the country have made the skill subject compulsory, while it remains optional in the remaining 90% of boards. Education experts say that in the coming times, skill subjects should also be made compulsory, so that children can acquire not only theory but also practical knowledge.