The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), a school education board, will introduce subjects like robotics, artificial intelligence (Al), machine learning (ML) and data science at ICSE (Classes 9 and 10) and ISC (Classes 11 and 12) levels.
“The students will appear in exam with these new subjects in Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) in 2025 and in Indian School Certificate (ISC) in 2026,” said Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary, CISCE over phone.
To design curriculum for schools affiliated to the CISCE in upcoming technologies, the council signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last month with I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), the Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, said a press release issued by the council.
The IHFC will help the CISCE curate the syllabus for reinforcing the 21st century skills and execute certain aspects of New Education Policy (NEP)-2020 for students in the schools affiliated to it, said Arathoon.
“The IHFC has offered its expertise to the CISCE to revamp the current STEM courses in line with the New Education Policy launched by the ministry of education, government of India,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“The IHFC has offered its expertise to the CISCE to revamp the current STEM courses in line with the New Education Policy launched by the ministry of education, government of India,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking about the MoU, Prof SK Saha, project director, IHFC and professor at IIT Delhi, said, “We are delighted to join hands with the CISCE for developing syllabus for robotics and Al for schoolchildren in India. Nurturing teamwork, innovation, and knowledge to bridge gaps between young engineering students and potential future robotic enthusiasts are the pillars of our vision.”
Ashutosh Dutt Sharma, CEO, IHFC, while emphasising the need to build the country’s capability in the field of robotics and upcoming technologies, said the IHFC’s endeavour was to reflect the principles of experiential learning along with theory aspects while developing the curriculum.
He further indicated that the IHFC may also play a key role in executing the same in more than 2700 schools affiliated to CISCE and provide them with guidance to implement the same.
Stressing the need for introducing new and contemporary subjects at the school level, Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary, CISCE, said, “The CISCE has always strived to provide its students with a wide variety of subject choices, catering to their interests and capabilities while also addressing the contemporary requirements. It is with this objective that the CISCE plans to introduce the subjects like robotics and AI.”
He said, “l am pleased that the syllabus for these two subjects is being created and developed by the IHFC, TIH of IIT Delhi. Their expertise and guidance are much appreciated by the CISCE”.
It is noteworthy to mention that the IHFC works in the area of Collaborative Robotics (COBOTICS) and has been set up as the technology innovation hub of IIT Delhi by the department of science and technology, Government of India, under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).