Vidushi Nautiyal, Pune
The Central Square Foundation (CSF) announced at the 10th edition of the Google for India event an initiative in partnership with Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, called ‘Al Samarth’.
The foundation received a $4 million grant from Google to improve AI literacy among 5 million parents, teachers, and children in India over the course of the next four years. The initiative seeks to encourage the safe use of AI and meet the increasing demand for awareness of the technology.
According to the CEO and MD of Central Square Foundation, Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja, “As AI increasingly influences our lives, education must adapt”. She also stated that the initiative will encourage millions to use AI carefully and thoughtfully.
Kukreja also shared that when CSF conducted the Bharat Survey for EdTech a few years ago, it was discovered that kids were actively using technology, even those from low-income homes. They wanted instructors and students at government schools to be active participants and co-creators in AI, not just passive recipients of it. As a result, they introduced AI Samarth, which stands for “empowering someone with the use of AI,” she added.
This program is a part of Google’s larger effort to get India ready for an AI-powered future. In addition to this, Google.org has introduced a Fellowship program through which Google workers will assist an Indian non-profit organization that focuses on early childhood development, Rocket Learning.
The goal of this partnership is to develop Saheli, a Gen AI-driven tutor that will help kids between the ages of three and six with developing fundamental numeracy and literacy skills. With Saheli, Rocket Learning will be able to reach millions of underprivileged kids in India and eventually expand the program to 20 languages worldwide.
Through this program, government schools can implement AI-focused curricula and create training materials for parents, teachers, and students. Encouraging teachers to use AI in the classroom and giving students the skills they need to interact with it appropriately are the main objectives. The foundation anticipates that over five million Indians will be impacted by the program during its four-year duration.
The CTO and co-founder of Rocket Learning, Vishal Sunil, also expressed his thoughts about the partnership and said, “With Google.org’s support, we are eager to revolutionize early childhood education, making quality learning accessible to every child in India.”