IIT-Guwahati leads AI education push in Assam; trains first batch of school teachers: Director

NEW DELHI: With artificial intelligence formally entering Assam’s school curriculum, IIT-Guwahati has taken the lead in training teachers and preparing textbooks to support the AI push, its director Prof Devendra Jalihal said on Monday. Teachers from Bhutan had already undergone training at the institute, while faculty members from other northeastern states will be included in future batches, Jalihal told PTI.

“AI has been introduced as a subject in Class 11 in Assam government schools. Since it is new, teachers required training. The first batch of 126 teachers from across the state was trained here this year,” he told PTI. The training was conducted at the Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (MFSDS&AI) at IIT-Guwahati, which offers academic programmes in the field, Jalihal said.

Alongside training, two IIT-Guwahati faculty members have co-authored the textbooks for state government schools. The books have been written by Prof Shymanta M Hazarika of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Assistant Prof Debanga Raj Neog of MFSDS&AI, and Sadiq Hussain of Dibrugarh University. “The Class 11 textbook has already been released, and the Class 12 book will be out soon,” Neog said.

The subject is being introduced in phases and currently offered as an elective. The textbooks are presently in English, with plans to translate them into local languages, including Bodo, he said. Jalihal said faculty members from several Bhutanese colleges were trained in Data Science and AI two years ago, and another group is expected next year. “The teachers’ training programme will be expanded to other northeastern states as well. We have already had discussions with the Tripura education minister,” he said.

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72 students secure fee waivers

The IIT-Guwahati director also highlighted the institute’s on-campus undergraduate programme in Data Science and AI, alongside an online Bachelor of Science programme offered by MFSDS&AI. “Launched in 2023 as a four-year programme with flexible exit options from the second year onwards, the online course had 700 students in its first batch, 1,000 in the second and 1,400 in the third. At this pace, enrolment is expected to reach 5,000 in the next five years,” he said.

Jalihal noted that very few students from the northeast had enrolled in the online programme, prompting the institute to approach Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu with a proposal to nominate 500 students for mentoring to help them meet the eligibility criteria. “We wanted students from villages, small towns and government schools. About 250 students from 28 districts were sent to us.

They spent a month at the institute and received guidance,” he said. Eighty students qualified for the online course through a test conducted after the mentoring, and 72 finally received admission offers. “We are supporting them with full fee waivers,” Jalihal said. He added that IIT Guwahati is committed to promoting Data Science and AI education as the use of such technologies expands rapidly in everyday life.