Integrating digital skilling in education

The rapid spread of digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine automation in industries surged the demand for digital skills manifold in India. Youth getting future-ready skills in digital technology is critical to improve their career prospects. Mapping the digital skill gaps across industries and states is essential to estimate the requirement of digital skills and reorient the skill training strategies and programmes accordingly. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) estimates that the country requires 30 million digitally skilled professionals but projects that the shortfall in the supply of digital skills against demand will increase to 29% from the current level of 25%. This implies that the country is prioritising reskilling of the tech workforce in AI and other relevant fields to bridge the gap. Faster adoption of AI and machine automation by industries has raised massive job replacement and will reduce a large section of the current tech force to jobless if they fail to reskill themselves in advanced digital technology and AI skills urgently. A large number of graduates remaining unemployed and many employed in low-competency jobs is reflective of the persisting gap between educational institutions and industry requirements. Transformation of the industrial job landscape due to machine automation and AI adoption has changed so fast that this gap has grown bigger within a short span, and the window of opportunity for reskilling is getting closed faster than anticipated. Industry estimates rank India inseventh place in robot installations and forecast significant growth in the coming years. Therefore, job replacement will come with job opportunities for specialised skills, provided educational institutions and skill training institutes rise to the challenge of hiring adequate teachers and trainers having advanced skills in imparting education and training in future skills. Building capacities of the IITs and engineering colleges alone in teaching AI, robotics, etc., is not going to meet the industry demand, and eventually all schools, colleges, and universities will have to play their part in increasing AI capabilities among graduate youth. The National Education Policy 2020 recommends the introduction of subjects such as artificial intelligence, design thinking, holistic health, organic living, and environmental education at relevant stages. NEP 2020 recognises the role and importance of machine learning and AI. The objective of the AI curriculum, according to the Education Ministry, is to develop a readiness for understanding and appreciating artificial intelligence and its application in our lives. The ministry informed the Rajya Sabha in March about the steps taken by the Central Government for systematic adoption of AI-based technologies in various sectors, including higher education. These include the India AI mission, which aims to bolster India’s global leadership in AI, foster technological self-reliance, ensure ethical and responsible AI deployment, and democratise the benefits of AI across all strata of society, and the introduction of various courses on different areas of artificial intelligence that benefit both students and faculty and are available free of cost for all the learners under SWAYAM, a flagship programme of the ministry. Whether these measures are adequate to meet the industry’s expectations needs to be studied to initiate required intervention. Understanding regional disparities in the availability and accessibility of AI education is crucial to planning the reallocation of budgetary resources to provide equal opportunities to youths in different regions. The National Programme on Artificial Intelligence (NPAI) Skilling Framework prepared by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship outlines a comprehensive roadmap aimed at enhancing AI skilling across India. Availability of disaggregated data is essential for states to plan resource allocation in addition to centrally funded programmes. With most AI learning and application resources being available in English, educated youth in the Northeast states have an edge over other regions, which can be leveraged by the NE states for their skill building in AI and enhancing their soft skills in leadership, management, etc. in the AI-dominated industry. This will require the states in the region to reimagine their educational curriculum in a big way and push for learning digital technology, robotics, and AI to create the talent pool. Integrating AI into the classrooms at the foundational level can go a long way in creating the ecosystem and orienting the future academia and workforce in the country to adopt AI-driven transformation in all spheres of life: career opportunities, man-and-machine interface, education, research, healthcare, agriculture, etc. AI adoption leads to replacement of jobs involving repetitive tasks such as lower-level coding, data entry, basic bookkeeping, and data management. Job loss due to AI adoption dominating the public discourse has overshadowed the issue of employability of engineering and tech graduates in the country. It is time new narratives were set about the new career opportunities in the AI-dominated industry landscape, such as AI trainers, AI experts in cybersecurity, advanced coding, etc. Industries adopting AI is a new reality, and the challenge for Indian education and skill training sectors is to accept it and reimagine the core education system to plan and prioritise digital skill building.