Pune: The state school education department and Google for Education have formed a partnership to train over four lakh teachers of govt and aided schools across Maharashtra in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies over the next 18 months, officials announced recently.The initiative will not pose a financial burden to the state govt, as Google will bear the entire cost. The plan aims to take AI-based teaching skills to schools in Maharashtra. .A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at the Mantralaya in the presence of school education minister Dada Bhuse. The agreement was signed by vice-president for Geo and Education at Google Chris Phillips and deputy secretary Moin Tahsildar on behalf of the department.The programme will roll out through the Google AI Educator Series. Selected master trainers will first receive specialised training and will subsequently train teachers in the state, creating a cascading model intended to reach every school.Speaking on the occasion, Bhuse said, “Equipping teachers with modern digital and AI skills is essential in an era driven by emerging technologies. The initiative will ensure that AI training reaches schools across Maharashtra. The govt will supervise the entire process. Google will provide free training and safeguards have been incorporated to ensure teachers’ digital safety.”Minister of state for school education Pankaj Bhoyar said the role of AI in education is growing rapidly and the department wanted teachers in govt and aided schools to be trained by a globally recognised organisation. He said the collaboration would help lakhs of teachers gain access to advanced training and eventually benefit students. It would improve classroom practices and awareness about AI.Officials said the partnership would focus on improving AI literacy among teachers, strengthening digital skills and providing training material in Marathi, Hindi and English. Teachers would also be supported with secure digital identities and encouraged to use modern Google AI tools for educational purposes.The initiative aligns with the objectives of the National Education Policy 2020 and was expected to strengthen technology-enabled learning in schools. Officials said it would complement existing digital education infrastructure, including ICT laboratories, connected classrooms, smart classrooms, digital libraries and language laboratories.
