Earlier this year, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced its plan to introduce Artificial Intelligence as an elective for students from classes 9 to 12. This week, multiple news publications have reported that the global computing giant IBM will develop the AI curriculum for CBSE from scratch. A team will develop the syllabus from IBM India along with members from its global team and other subject experts. 

According to the report by Times of India, IBM will conduct a pilot project in 1,000 schools in Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and Chennai, before finalising the curriculum and embedding it in the CBSE curriculum from the next academic year. The initial stage will also focus on creating awareness for school principals and provides training for teachers. 

The students will be subjected to a five-stage training program. The curriculum also includes the Capstone Project, where IBM experts will mentor students. The AI curriculum will also have chapters on ethics and issues such as security, privacy and transparency,

"Unlike creating a curriculum for professionals, introducing the subject to schoolchildren is different. We have a chance to create a course to give the best effect by using a design-based approach to problem-solving with AI. The programme intends to develop a professional learning community for teachers in partnership with the industry. We will ensure it provides collaborative global project opportunities for students and recognise learning achievements through badging and accreditation," Gaurav Sharma, vice-president, India Software Labs, IBM, said. 

The first 36-hour program will also help the top 40 students from these 1,000 schools to showcase their AI talents at forums, hackathons, and international conferences.