Prime Highlights
- India is set to be home to the biggest AI-ready school-going population in the world in the next six months.
- The Skill India Mission commemorated its 10th anniversary with new AI-based education offerings and international tie-ups.
Key Facts
- The Skill India Mission, which began in 2015, has empowered more than 6 crore youth of urban and rural India.
- The just-introduced SOAR program has the intention of applying artificial intelligence learning on a national school level.
Key Background
During the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Skill India Mission, the government released an AI-driven roadmap to construct the world’s largest school system based on an AI model. Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary announced that in the next six months, India will be at the top with the largest number of students trained in artificial intelligence. The transformation is being triggered by the introduction of the newly launched SOAR (Skilling for AI Readiness) program to skill school-going students to create a digitally empowered next generation.
The event, organized by Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi with the theme of BharatSkillNxt 2025, reflected an integrated approach to vocational and digital skills development. IndiaSkills 2025-26 portal launch, NCVET’s KaushalVerse (a digital skill ecosystem for enterprise skills), and other policy frameworks concerning apprenticeship and skill certification were some of the main initiatives. A few new reports were also published, such as the India Semiconductor Workforce Strategy and outcomes of the Skill Impact Bond.
Understandably noting the necessity of world competitiveness on part of India’s youth, Minister Jitin Prasada again emphasized that cutting-edge skills such as AI, cybersecurity, climate resilience, and digital productivity must be at the center of education. To have such material included will make the youth empowered towards international work mobility and careers. He also added that the youth must be equipped not just to work but even to lead during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
To further accelerate implementation, the government has formed key partnerships, including an MoU with France for joint curricula and Centres of Excellence. Partnerships with Microsoft, HCL, ICICI Foundation, and leading technical institutions have been established. The multi-stakeholder framework is an expression of India’s aspiration to become a world skills leader, leveraging technology and low-cost education as enablers.