Can AI reach rural India’s classrooms?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal force in reconfiguring India’s educational landscape, enhancing pedagogy, boosting classroom effectiveness, and contributing to national development.

- AKSHATA AND R. SREEJITH VARMA

The International Monetary Fund’s recent upward revision of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections to 7.3 per cent for 2026 and 4.6 per cent for 2027 partly attributes this momentum to AI-driven investments.

Notably, India accounted for 16 per cent of global generative AI application downloads in 2025, evincing its crucial role in the digital economy. AI’s integration into teaching-learning processes has already proven to be a game changer in the Indian educational sector although equitable access for rural learners confronting the systemic barriers remains a challenge that needs to be urgently addressed.

AI facilitates a transition from traditional, unidirectional instruction to dynamic, data-informed personalisation. Automated systems for grading, attendance tracking, and curriculum adaptation are increasingly liberating educators for facilitative roles, and fostering deeper cognitive engagement. Adaptive platforms, powered by machine-learning algorithms, deliver multilingual content and instantaneous feedback, aligned with India’s linguistic heterogeneity. A 2025 study featuring 30 Indian Higher Educational Institutions found that over 50 per cent of them used generative AI to develop study materials, while over 60 per cent allowed student use of AI tools.