Bangalore, July 21, 2020: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE),  has  announced the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the high school curriculum (Grade XI & XII) for the current academic year (2020 – 2021).
Developed in collaboration with IBM, the curriculum is part of CBSE’s Social Empowerment through Work Education and Action (SEWA) program and will be introduced in approximately 200 schools across 13 states in India (Delhi-NCR, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Kerala, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab).
The IBM AI curriculum is structured around a course framework for students consisting of base strands of knowledge (basics, history, applications), skills (design thinking, computational thinking, data fluency, critical thinking) and values (ethical decision making, bias) in AI. It is further made robust with problem-based learning outcomes and assessment methods for teachers, to build foundational skills of AI in students making them not just consumers of AI, but creators as well. To meet CBSE's requirements for Grades XI & XII, the curriculum was co-developed with Australia’s Macquarie University and Indian implementation partners – Learning Links Foundation and 1M1B.
The IBM AI Curriculum was launched in collaboration with CBSE in September 2019 with an aim to impart AI skills to 5000 Grade XI students and 1000 teachers across India. Following the programme launch, a series of Principal Orientation and Teacher Training sessions were conducted between September 2019 and June 2020. As part of the partnership between IBM and CBSE for the AI Curriculum, trainings (online and classroom) for over 5000 students were conducted resulting in a cumulative 408 hours of training workshops.