Two Indian states — Punjab and Odisha — have taken remarkable strides in including artificial intelligence (AI) in school education. Punjab’s education department has become the first in India to roll out an AI curriculum across its government schools. At the same time, Odisha’s newly approved “AI Policy 2025” envisions AI instruction in 35 percent of its schools by 2029 and 90 percent by 2036.
These are baby steps, though, when compared to China, which has announced a nationwide mandate to introduce AI education in all primary schools beginning September 2025. These examples signify a crucial global shift: AI is now integrated into children’s earliest learning experiences and is no longer confined to higher education or specialized training. But for India, a key question looms large: Is it truly ready to follow this path toward universal AI education?
Punjab’s initiative marks a bold experiment in public education reform. The state’s AI curriculum is designed as a three-year rollout prioritizing hands-on, project-based learning. Students are encouraged to engage in coding exercises, AI hackathons, and science fairs where they apply machine learning principles to real-world challe
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