AI in Schools: Telangana Plans Labs for 1,000 High Schools
For the secondary level education, the focus is more on physical labs and connectivity.
Hyderabad: Artificial intelligence (AI) found repeated mention in the Union Budget 2026, especially in the context of AI-led skills, curriculum and education, but it has not offered much clarity on how this would play out in government classrooms. The emphasis has prompted states to move ahead with AI-linked initiatives, but educators warn that long standing gaps in teachers, classrooms and school facilities are what defines how learning looks on the ground.
“The Budget should first invest in children, teachers, classrooms and infrastructure. Only then can learning happen,” said child rights activist Shantha Sinha. “If children are not learning because there are no teachers or enough classrooms, it shows it is a non-serious education system.”
The Budget did not announce a standalone national mission on AI in schools, but repeatedly mentioned technology-enabled learning, skilling and employability as priorities across education and employment sectors. Telangana’s director of school education E. Naveen Nicolas said the state had begun introducing AI-related content from the primary level upwards. “For Classes I to V, content on IT and AI has been included as chapters in textbooks. For Classes VI to X, there is a separate book on IT and AI titled Digital Learning,” he said.
For the secondary level education, the focus is more on physical labs and connectivity. “Out of about 5,000 government high schools, nearly 1,000 already have Atal Tinkering Labs, and this year we plan to set up AI labs in another 1,000 schools,” said Nicolas. He added that IT instructors are being placed in all schools that have computing labs, while internet connectivity is being provided through MoUs with T-Fibre and BSNL. “We also have 720 PM SHRI schools, where AI and coding labs are in the pipeline,” he said.
Sinha warned that a technology-first narrative risks masking other problems. “There are schools without teachers and teachers without children. When you say children are not learning, you turn the blame on the child. It is not a learning crisis, it is a crisis in the system,” she said.
She also flagged the growing data burden on teachers. “Teachers are being asked to upload attendance, photographs and daily scheme data. A centralised data system has been imposed on teachers. It controls teachers instead of supporting them.”