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Good practice Imported

AI as a Compulsory Skill Subject in 1,642 of Karnataka's Government High Schools

India · Bengaluru · See the India profile · See the Bengaluru profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 81% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

From 2026-27, Karnataka's School Education Department is replacing vocational subjects like Beauty and Wellness and Retail with an NSQF-aligned Artificial Intelligence skill subject in 1,642 government high schools, with guest teachers trained beforehand.

1,642 schools
Government high schools introducing AI as a skill subject (from 2026-27)
1,180 schools
Newly approved government high schools (of the 1,642)
381 schools
NSQF-approved schools from 2024-25 and 2025-26 (of the 1,642)
81 schools
Existing single-sector schools (of the 1,642)

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Karnataka School Education Department
Period
From 2026-27 academic year
Keywords
secondary education, vocational/skills curriculum, AI literacy, public schools

Context

Karnataka's School Education Department has introduced Artificial Intelligence as a skill subject under the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) in 1,642 government high schools from the 2026-27 academic year — comprising 1,180 newly approved government high schools, 381 NSQF-approved schools from 2024-25 and 2025-26, and 81 existing single-sector schools.

Objectives

The department says the goal is to build technological literacy, problem-solving ability and employability by introducing students to AI concepts, digital innovation and computational thinking at secondary level.

Activities

AI replaces existing vocational options such as Beauty and Wellness, Retail and Fashion Design, and is taught in place of the third-language slot. Ahead of classroom teaching, the department instructed that AI guest teachers undergo specialised training in the first week of August.

Conclusions

The initiative is brand new for this academic year, so no outcome data — on learning gains, engagement or employability — is yet available; the evidence here rests on the scale and specificity of the rollout (1,642 named schools) rather than on measured impact.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
Karnataka School Education Department, AI guest teachers (specially trained in the first week of August ahead of rollout)

Conditions for success

  • An existing NSQF accreditation framework already in place for participating schools
  • A guest-teacher training pipeline ahead of classroom rollout
  • Replacing existing vocational subject slots (Beauty and Wellness, Retail, Fashion Design) rather than adding new timetable capacity

Common failure modes

  • Brand new for the 2026-27 academic year — no outcome data yet
  • Only one week of specialised training for guest teachers before they begin teaching

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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