Getting started with some temp sites for my colleague Saleem’s work setting up an amazing foundation in India that is focussed on AI literacy and computational thinking for children in all schools including low cost private and all government schools.
Home
India is home to the largest education system in the world, with over 270 million K–12 students and nearly 250 million youth aged 15–24—a population almost equal to that of the entire United States. This young demographic represents extraordinary potential, but today that potential remains largely untapped. Roughly 45% of Indian youth are unemployed or underemployed, not because they lack talent, but because they lack access to the skills that the modern workforce demands.
The urgency could not be greater. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming every sector—from healthcare and agriculture to finance and education. Yet, India’s students are not equipped for this new reality. Computer Science (CS) and AI education remain luxuries, accessible primarily to urban, English-speaking children in private schools which are approx 31% of the overall mix, while the vast majority i.e 69% of India’s students enrolled in government schools —many of whom learn best in regional languages—are left behind.
The good news is that momentum for change is building. India’s National Education Policy (2020) and the National Curriculum Framework (2023) both emphasize computational thinking and AI literacy as essential twenty-first-century skills. The time is ripe to ensure that every child in India—not just the privileged few—has the opportunity to learn the language of the future, however domestic solutions to meet this opportunity do not exist yet, presenting an opportunity for world-leading established solutions to be localised and extended to help deliver the learning outcomes.
Forest Key's Blog 