VIJAYAWADA: Emphasising the need to incorporate emerging technologies like artificial intelligence into the education curriculum of the State, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “Unlike in the previous three industrial revolutions, when Telugus were mere followers, we should be part of the fourth revolution by creating and being a part of the developing technologies.”
Jagan was addressing vice-chancellors of various universities, experts and officials during a brainstorming session held on Thursday on how to revise the education curriculum to keep up with the changing pace of the world.
Highlighting the need for reforms in the current education system to prepare students for the future, he hoped to see youngsters of the State developing new technologies that are at par with artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality.
“The meeting is being conducted to deliberate on how best to bridge the wide gap in the current curriculum of the State and future goals. Vice-chancellors as heads of universities play a vital role in the issue,” he observed.
Pointing out that Artificial Intelligence will lead the fourth industrial revolution, Jagan said, “In the coming days, the education system will have a complete makeover with Artificial Intelligence.” Further, the Chief Minister advised vice-chancellors to consider adopting a two-pronged strategy to move ahead with the emerging technologies.
The Chief Minister said, “There is a need for doing a SWOT analysis of our own capabilities. Classes should be conducted in such a way that augmented reality and virtual reality are integrated with the curriculum.”
Recalling his recent meeting with the German Consulate General, he pointed out that Germany is facing an acute scarcity of skilled human resources.
“In fact, all Western countries are facing demographic imbalance. In our State and country, 70 per cent of the people are capable of working. Unless we train them with proper skills, we can’t take on the role of guiding the world,” he remarked.
Stating that teaching methods in medical education should be changed with the introduction of AI and robotics, he said students should be taught about the use of technology in the agriculture sector.
“Like in Western countries, we should also bring in practical applicability and overhaul teaching methods, preparation of question papers and examination process by adopting emerging technologies into our curriculum. To achieve this vision, we shall constitute a board with experts from across the world to make suggestions on the issue,” Jagan said.
He added that two separate boards should be constituted - one for primary education and another for higher education. “To take my thoughts and suggestions to the next level, we shall constitute working groups with four or five universities giving representation to engineering, medical and other faculties,” he concluded.
Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana, Special Chief Secretary Dr KS Jawahar Reddy, Special Chief Secretaries MT Krishna Babu (Medical & Health) and Gopalakrishna Dwivedi (Agriculture), Principal Secretaries Praveen Prakash (School Education) and J Syamala Rao (Higher Education), IT Secretary K Sasidhar, School Education Commissioner P Bhaskar, Higher Education Council Chairman K Hemachandra Reddy, I & PR Commissioner T Vijayakumar Reddy and Vice-Chancellors of Universities attended the meeting.