Hyderabad: Making strides in equipping young learners for the digital future, students from class seven to class nine students in government secondary schools across Andhra Pradesh will soon learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of their school curriculum. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the creation of computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. These tasks include learning from experience, recognizing patterns, understanding natural language, and making informed decisions. AI powers many everyday tools, such as voice assistants, recommendation algorithms, and self-driving cars, seamlessly integrating advanced technology into daily life.This initiative by the Andhra Pradesh government is in collaboration with Quest Alliance, a non-profit that helps young people build thriving careers, equipping them with future and emergent skills. A 3-year MoU was signed in February, 2024 between Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), Andhra Pradesh, Quest Alliance and Leadership for Equity (LFE) under Amazon’s Future Engineer program (AFE) to create and roll out a Future Skills curriculum for the State. The initiative deepens AI understanding through foundational knowledge and hands-on experience, preparing learners for future tech-driven careers.The AI curriculum, being piloted this year in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and Andhra Pradesh Model Schools of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam Districts, aims to empower students with essential knowledge and competencies for an evolving job market while also enabling them to critically question the underlying assumptions and challenges that AI systems pose. Studying the curriculum will empower students to not only learn the concepts and applications of AI, but it will also help them build critical thinking and analytical skills to become responsible digital citizensDr. S. Tirumala Chaitanya, Srikakulam District Educational Officer said that integration of AI curriculum would help equip students with skills needed for future careers in technology while fostering critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. “Our teachers are gaining valuable expertise through continuous AI training, and the enthusiasm among students using Amazon Alexa provided by the Quest Alliance team to explore AI is remarkable. This initiative holds the promise of creating a lasting positive impact and preparing our classrooms for the demands of the 21st century,” he added.With a strong emphasis on ethical, equitable and responsible AI, the curriculum is designed to ensure students build technical proficiency and critical thinking skills to develop into well-rounded, informed citizens. It empowers them to approach structured problems, understand the implications of AI across sectors, and leverage AI tools for real-world problem-solving—individually and collaboratively. This multidimensional curriculum reflects Quest Alliance’s commitment to creating equitable, responsible, technology-driven learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom.Sameera, Andhra Pradesh State Lead, Quest Alliance said, “The curriculum also aims to develop students’ proficiency in using fundamental AI tools and technologies, while making sure that students understand the potential risks and inequities the technology operates with. To encourage creativity, the program allows students to explore AI applications in various projects, fostering creative expression through technology. Additionally, the curriculum emphasizes ethical and equitable considerations to encourage responsible digital citizenship, by introducing the ethical implications and societal impacts of AI, including issues related to bias and fairness.”The annual curriculum is being collaboratively tested and co-developed with educators from government schools. Their expertise ensures the curriculum is contextualized and tailored to local needs, creating a grounded and culturally relevant AI program. This approach emphasizes local richness and minimizes reliance on Western-centric ideas and examples, making the learning experience more meaningful and relatable for students. As part of the curriculum, Educators and Students will be introduced to the concept of machine intelligence, its various types and will explore how an AI dataset gets built. They will also learn prompt engineering using popular AI applications, while understanding the potential career opportunities they open up. Every session provides stakeholders space to critically question and test AI for biases, inequity and allowing them to understand the role human intelligence plays in designing these systems. The partnership between Quest Alliance and the Andhra Pradesh government underscores a shared commitment to providing students with the future skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a technology-driven future.
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