India plans a major overhaul of AI education: Task force calls for shift to industry-led, hands-on learning

New Delhi: In a significant push to align technical education with industry needs, an industry-led AI curriculum task force has recommended moving away from traditional lecture-based teaching towards learning rooted in real-world industry use cases, starting from the first semester of engineering programmes.

The task force has proposed increasing practical exposure for engineering students from the current 25-30 per cent to 40-75 per cent, depending on the degree and specialisation.

The recommendations aim to better prepare students for AI development by bridging critical gaps in pedagogy, infrastructure, and hands-on training, particularly in emerging areas such as Generative AI, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), and foundational model development.

The suggestions were discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday.

Participants included NASSCOM President Rajesh Nambiar, who also serves as Cognizant Foundation director, Wipro Chief Operating Officer Sanjeev Jain, and representatives from Wipro and TCS.

A baseline study of the existing B.Tech Computer Science and allied curricula in Indian institutions, conducted in partnership with industry experts and NASSCOM, found that while AI coverage has expanded, significant shortcomings remain in practical application and infrastructure.

Key recommendations including anchor teaching in real industry use cases from the first semester, distribute industry exposure throughout the programme via capstone projects, end-to-end AI solution engineering, and greater use of low-code and no-code tools, introduce multiple entry-exit options, allowing students to exit with a certificate after one year, a diploma after two years, and an advanced diploma after three years, prioritise faculty development through structured train-the-trainer programmes, standardised assessments and modernisation of labs with current industry tools and engage seasoned industry professionals as adjunct faculty, drawing on models used by top business schools.

The task force emphasised that curriculum reform must go hand-in-hand with faculty readiness and infrastructure upgrades.

It also called for focused interventions in non-STEM disciplines.

The meeting ended with consensus on four immediate next steps: estimating national-level requirements for compute, infrastructure, faculty, and learner volumes; engaging the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for formal adoption of the revamped curriculum; developing a faculty training roadmap with industry involvement; and creating parallel tracks for non-STEM fields.