Chennai, January 14: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday reached the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to participate in Pongal celebrations, during which he announced that India will host the prestigious AI Impact Summit next month under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to reporters, Dharmendra Pradhan said that countries worldwide are rapidly adopting AI in the education, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors.
"Next month, the prestigious AI impact summit will be organised in India under the leadership of PM Modi... Entire countries are preparing themselves, the entire ecosystem, all the cohorts of society, and all the important stakeholders in government and society are engaged, deliberating and discussing how to implement the disruptive technology AI in our ecosystem, whether it is education, agriculture, healthcare, logistics or manufacturing. Last year, the Government of India gave us a centre of excellence for AI in education," he said
He said the visit was aimed at reviewing the progress of the centre on the sidelines of the upcoming summit.
"We decided to establish that centre of excellence at IIT Madras as a hub. I am here today to review the progress of the Centre of Excellence in AI for Education on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit... Our education ecosystem, whether federal or provincial government, or any kind of institution, is now preparing itself to adopt AI in its curriculum, pedagogy, and administrative systems," Pradhan added.
Referring to the Pongal festival, the Education Minister said the new year marks a renewed push to integrate AI into the Indian education framework.
"On this eve of Pongal, the auspicious day, countries are preparing for how the new year will add AI to the Indian education ecosystem. Yesterday, I met with the governing council of NIDSR, all the NITs, and ISR. Yesterday we decided on three important things. Indian Education Institute will move towards becoming technology-savvy in its teaching and learning methodology, leveraging AI. There will be a new course curriculum looking into the global need."
The Union Minister also announced that from school education to advanced research, the mother tongue will be prioritised as the medium of instruction.
"Secondly, every year we are producing many doctoral students, PhD students. Till now, in the Indian ecosystem, our PhD was a priority for academics, for scientists, and for quality papers... But now I appeal to the entire Indian education ecosystem to focus on the problems, national priorities, and national missions... the third important decision we have taken will focus from school to research. The teaching methodology, teaching medium of instruction, and medium of understanding will be the mother tongue. Mother tongue will be given priority in all Indian educational institutions," he added.
Pongal, one of the most significant festivals for Tamils worldwide, marks thanksgiving to nature, the sun, farm animals, and farmers. It is traditionally celebrated as a family festival symbolising prosperity, gratitude, and togetherness. To facilitate the celebrations, the Tamil Nadu government had earlier announced a Pongal gift package comprising one kilogram of raw rice, one kilogram of sugar, and one full-length sugarcane for all eligible beneficiaries. (ANI)
