Parliament Question: AI in education initiatives

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-521 ANSWERED ON - 04/02/2026 AI in education initiatives 521 Shri Milind Murli Deora: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: a) the status of AI-based personalized learning tools under the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme and related initiatives; b) the number of schools and students benefitted, particularly in rural and linguistically diverse areas; c) ethical guidelines and data privacy safeguards governing AI use in education; d) steps taken to train teachers and administrators for responsible AI adoption; and e) measures planned to ensure equitable access to AI-driven learning in underserved and remote regions? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR) (a) to (e): The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 highlights the importance of multilingualism and places strong emphasis on promotion of all Indian languages. In alignment with the objectives of NEP, 2020, and with the aim of making high-quality educational content in Indian languages widely accessible for students at both school and higher education levels, the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme has been announced to provide books in 22 Indian languages in digital format. Further, the translation of content into Indian languages, has been facilitated by technological advancements including the development of AI-based translation tools such as ANUVADINI by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and BHASHINI, an initiative under the Digital India Programme. BHASHINI platform hosts a repository of over three hundred fifty AI-based language models and provides more than twenty-two specialized language services. These services include Automatic Speech Recognition, Machine Translation, Text-to-Speech, Optical Character Recognition, Transliteration and several other language technology capabilities essential for enhancing multilingual digital access in the country. The National Language Translation Mission through the BHASHINI platform is digitizing large volumes of text and speech data across all 22 scheduled languages.The Ministry of Education has taken steps to facilitate adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at school education and higher education levels. At foundational stage, e-Jaadui Pitara has been developed, which is supported by three AI bots i.e., Katha Sakhi, Teacher Tara and Parent Tara, specifically for parents and teachers as it empowers them to create engaging, enjoyable, and interactive learning experiences for children aged 3-8 years. The Central Institute of Education Technology (CIET), NCERT under digital education initiative, has introduced personalized adaptive learning features in Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA), in respect of higher grades. Further, with an objective of improving accessibility to AI knowledge and Skills, the Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) online platform of the Ministry of Education has delivered over 130 free AI-related courses, curated by premier institutions such as the IITs, IISc among others. More than 46 lakh learners have enrolled in these courses. Additionally, the Ministry of Education has launched the SATHEE (Self-Assessment Test and Help for Entrance Exams) initiative in collaboration with IIT Kanpur in November 2023. The platform provides free access to quality content, to support students/ learners in their preparation for various competitive examinations, including JEE, NEET, SSC, ICAR, CUET, IBPS, etc. As on date, more than 19 lacs students are registered on the platform. As of January 2025, under this platform, more than 2.47 lakhs users have availed personalised learning using AI to identify performance gaps and error patterns. The platform has AI enabled recommendation for the most relevant videos based on each student’s performance and automatically generates fresh practice questions for topics where students made mistakes. To ensure that educators remain informed about emerging technologies, the Ministry of Education and NCERT are organizing regular capacity building/consultation workshops with stakeholders. These workshops are aimed at identifying innovative, education-specific AI solutions and understanding best practices in responsible AI deployment. NCERT conducts online webinars encompassing topics related to creation and dissemination of e-contents, Content-Pedagogy, Technology integration, use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching-learning and assessment, Open Educational Resources (OER), use of various ICT tools in teaching learning and assessment, OER, use of ICT tools, creation of AR/VR contents, mobile app and AI based platforms etc. The Capacity Building Program on Artificial Intelligence (CBAI), implemented under the Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Program of the Ministry of Education promotes the integration of AI and other emerging technologies in education. The program is designed for faculty and academic leaders to strengthen their competencies towards developing AI-Driven Education tools and prompting research in AI to improve teaching methodologies. The programme aims to equip higher education institutions in improving their overall quality and effectiveness. The programme is currently being implemented by IIT Ropar and offers two categories of courses, for Faculty Members and Academic Leaders with two different levels, Foundation and Advanced Level. The curriculum covers themes like AI for Educational Content Creation, AI for Administrative Tasks, Ethical Use of AI Education, Capstone Project and the future of AI in Education, etc.Further, under the IndiaAI Misison, MeitY has also released the IndiaAI Governance Guidelines on 5th November, 2025. This comprehensive framework lays the foundation for safe inclusive, and responsible AI deployment across sectors. AI is a cutting-edge technology evolving through research and usage. A Centre of Excellence (CoE) for AI in Education was announced in Union Budget 2025-26 with a total outlay of Rs. 500 Cr which has been established at IIT Madras. The CoE is envisaged to drive innovation, research, and development in AI-enabled educational tools, to support expanding access to quality education across the country. *****