Kolkata: The debut of a robot in a city school on Monday emphasised the growing trend of aggressively integrating AI and robotics into classroom teaching. Aiming to provide students with vital hands-on experience, several other schools in the city are undertaking a drive to upgrade their laboratories to keep pace with the tech-driven shift.DPS Ruby Park on Monday inaugurated the AI and Robotics Lab, where a humanoid robot cut the ribbon and also performed Ganesh Vandana. It also participated in the felicitation programme, seen clapping with others to showcase human-like dexterity, emotion and cultural connect.School principal Joyoti Chaudhuri said: “AI is no longer the future, but it’s the present. Our responsibility is to ensure students become creators of the technology rather than merely consumers of it. With this vision, today we unveil one of the most modern AI and robotics labs in eastern India. The inauguration marks another milestone in Delhi Public School, Ruby Park’s continued commitment to equipping students with the skills, mindset and technological exposure required to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world.”The National Education Policy, 2020, emphasised problem-solving, coding, design thinking and AI literacy. Following this vision, schools affiliated to CBSE are giving stress to these things and offering subjects from the primary level. Chaudhuri stated: “We aim to provide such a conducive climate to boost the curiosity and innovative talent of our students.” Sagar Agarwal, a trustee member of the school, added: “Our objective is to transform learning from being theoretical to experiential, where students don’t just learn concepts — they apply them.”Several other prominent schools are already in a process of upgrading their robotics labs in alignment with the vision of NEP 2020. South Point School principal Jaidev Ghosh said: “CBSE has introduced computational thinking and artificial intelligence, so we integrated with existing computer studies and framed a new thing because we wanted students should have some sort of knowledge of coding as well. We are offering this subject for classes 6, 7 and 8. Our new robotic lab is under process on the new campus, but in the existing lab we upgraded software for holding classes twice a week.”Birla Bharati School introduced robotics from class 3 last year. Madhumita Seal, the school principal, said: “As a subject, we introduced it last year, but this year we are doing it in a more structured way with a proper syllabus.” DPS Howrah’s principal Sunita Arora also stated they were offering AI and Robotics for the last couple of years, but now they have started upgrading their robotic lab by introducing the latest equipment to give an idea to the children of the latest technology and widespread usage.St Xavier’s Collegiate School principal Fr Roshan Tirkey said: “We have already started upgrading the infrastructure of the AI innovative lab. We are planning to make it more sophisticated, and now it’s once a week. Presently we are offering till class 8, but in future we will offer the combination for ICSE and ISC level.”
