Nagpur: CM Devendra Fadnavis has urged principals not to shy away from artificial intelligence (AI), comparing the technology to a horse that is of no use to someone scared of it, but takes him far once he learns to ride.
Speaking at the valedictory function of the IX International Principals’ Educational Conference (IPEC) in Nagpur, Fadnavis said, “Technology is like a horse and if you learn to ride it, you can move ahead fast, and the horse stays in your control.”
AI has brought two challenges, the CM said. “It is AI, so it has no human sensitivity. Also, it is not the gospel truth. It can give a wrong answer and take you in wrong direction,” Fadnavis said.
Human sensitivity, ethics and character building, the CM added, are the foundations of education. “Contemporary values change, and every era brings new ones, but eternal values do not change,” he said.
Turning to history, Fadnavis cited Takshashila, Nalanda and Vikramshila, where ‘shastrarth’, or dialogue, was the method, unlike the monologue of exam papers. A survey by William Adam in 1830, he said, found 100,000 schools in Bengal and Bihar, and Thomas Munro noted a school in every village of Madras Presidency. The Macaulay report of 1835 made that system obsolete and kept a large section of society away from education for over 100 years, he said.
Minister of state for school education Pankaj Bhoyar said AI and robotics are transforming how people live and learn. “But while technology can provide knowledge, it is teachers who provide wisdom, values and directions,” he said.
Bhoyar urged principals to protect young people from “addiction, misinformation and negative influences” and to discover child’s talents, not just prepare students for examinations. “A good principal builds a good school. A great principal builds a generation” Bhoyar said.
