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PM Modi announces free online coaching for competitive exams, AI training for 1 crore youth
Modi said that the government will provide AI skill training to 10 million youth in the next one year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced free online coaching for competitive examinations to reduce the financial burden on poor and middle-class families, and said 10 million youth will be trained in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next year.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, Modi said the government would create a network by bringing together digital public infrastructure, teachers and educators to provide free coaching to students preparing for various examinations. “The competition surrounding coaching classes has become a huge burden for middle-class families. Every parent feels that if they do not send their children to a coaching centre, they are somehow falling behind or do not belong to a respectable family. Keeping the concerns of poor and middle-class families in mind, we want to help save them the thousands of crores of rupees which they spend on coaching,” he said.
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“Our young people should be able to stay close to their families, receive their care, and avoid placing an additional financial burden on them,” he added.
Deep Dive
“Therefore, we have decided to provide free online coaching for various competitive examinations for our youth. We have digital public infrastructure, and we have highly talented teachers and educators. By bringing these resources together, we will provide free coaching to the country’s young people and build an entire network for this purpose”.
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The announcement comes weeks after youth-led protests over issues including the NEET-UG paper leak and examination reforms were held in several parts of the country last month. The “Sansad Chalo” (march to Parliament) campaign on July 20 brought students’ concerns over examinations and the coaching system into focus. The agitation eventually led to the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25.
Free online assistance
The Centre has already taken steps towards providing free online academic assistance. IIT Kanpur runs SATHEE (Self-Assessment Test and Help for Entrance Exams), an online education platform launched in November 2023 in collaboration with the department of higher education under the Union education ministry. SATHEE provides free educational content and guidance for competitive examinations including JEE, NEET, CUET, ICAR, SSC and IBPS. More than 21 lakh learners have registered on the platform so far, Union education minister Pralhad Joshi told the Lok Sabha on August 3.
In June 2025, the education ministry had also set up a nine-member expert committee to recommend reforms to reduce students’ dependence on private coaching centres and curb the growth of parallel “dummy schools”. The committee has held three meetings and is yet to submit its recommendations.
AI skill training
Modi also announced that the government will provide AI skill training to 10 million youth in the next one year, saying young people would play a central role in building a developed India.
“My dear fellow citizens, when I speak of a Viksit Bharat, when I speak of advancing the nation at high speed—who is the greatest beneficiary of this? Who is the greatest driving force behind all these efforts? If there is a driving force, it is the youth of my country. It is the power of my nation’s youth,” Modi said.
“Today, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I wish to make an announcement for the youth of the country: We have resolved that in the coming one year, we will work to provide AI skill training to 10 million youth, so that the youth of our nation possess the capability to lead the world in the domain of AI as well,” he added.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched the Skilling for AI Readiness (SOAR) programme in July 2025 to build basic AI skills among school students in Classes 6 to 12 and educators. The programme includes courses on AI basics, generative AI, programming, ethics, cybersecurity and career opportunities. As of March 2026, around 230,000 learners had enrolled in the programme, of whom nearly 29,800 had been certified, HT had reported earlier.
Hailing the country’s youth, Modi said they would be both the driving force and the biggest beneficiaries of a developed India. “We have to link the goal of a developed India with our youth...”
