How Frontier Technology Is Making Personalised Education a Reality for 1.15 Cr+ Children Across India

Every morning in Gujarat, headteachers log into a dashboard that tells them exactly how their school is doing. On one screen, they can see which students are absent, which teachers need support, and where learning gaps are widening. The Vidya Samiksha Kendra, a state-wide digital command centre, analyses over 508 crore data points each year to track 1.15 crore students across 54,000 schools — ensuring no child’s progress goes unnoticed. 

Digital inspections have replaced manual checks, saving more than 10 million hours annually, while personalised apps help children who need extra support catch up in time.

What Gujarat has built is one of the most ambitious uses of frontier technology in education, proving how data, AI, and analytics can strengthen classrooms at scale. And it is not an isolated case.

Across India, frontier technologies like AI, robotics, and analytics are making classrooms more responsive, inclusive, and personal. In both rural government schools and urban municipal systems, children are experiencing learning in ways their parents could never have imagined.

These shifts are aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which envisions a learner-centred, equitable, and technology-enabled education ecosystem. Alongside the government’s National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), launched in July 2021 as a unifying digital infrastructure for schools, such innovations are bringing India closer to its goal of equal access to quality learning.

From Tonk’s ‘Padhai With AI’ programme to smart e-classrooms in Pimpri-Chinchwad and robotics bootcamps run by Robotex India, the change is already unfolding.

How Rajasthan students are beating maths fear with AI

In Tonk, Rajasthan, frontier tech is giving students the tools to overcome their fear of mathematics. For years, the subject had stood as a barrier for many children in the district. But with the rollout of Padhai With AI — a bilingual learning platform that explains problems step by step and adapts to each child’s pace — that barrier is beginning to fall.

“Earlier, I struggled to grasp complex math concepts, but the AI’s step-by-step solutions made a big difference. I began understanding the subject better and made it a habit to revise regularly after school,” student Aman Gujar says. By the time results were announced, he had scored 65, a jump of 10 marks that filled him with pride and confidence.

This turnaround has been replicated across Tonk. Under the leadership of IAS officer Saumya Jha, the initiative reached more than 350 government schools in just six weeks. Pass rates rose to 96.4%, up three points from the previous year, and the share of high achievers climbed from 23 to 28.23%. By comparison, Rajasthan’s state average barely shifted, moving from 92 to 93%.

For Saumya, the results go beyond statistics. During visits to schools, she heard children talk of ambitions to work with drones and robotics, but hesitate to choose science streams because of weak maths scores. Teachers were stretched thin, balancing lessons with administrative duties. Families prioritised seasonal farm work during harvest months, breaking continuity in studies.

“Compounding this, many families in Tonk, traditionally reliant on agriculture, prioritise farm responsibilities over formal education,” she says. “This leads to fluctuating school attendance, particularly during the Rabi harvest season.”

The AI system helped bridge these gaps. Teachers could generate customised tests instantly, and students could practise endlessly without relying on scarce resources. For educators like Ashish Thakur in Ameenpura, this support was invaluable. “Math often instils fear in children, and when results are announced, it feels like a personal test for me too,” he says. “I was especially worried that a few students might not clear their board exams. Thankfully, they passed with commendable marks.”

With new features such as weekly tests and standardised calendars added in its second version, Padhai With AI is now set to expand into English and Science — ensuring many more students can experience the confidence Aman found.

Inside Pune’s schools, where AI tracks every lesson

In Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune, classrooms are being observed in a new way — not by inspectors, but by frontier technologies. Cameras and analytics software track student attentiveness and emotions, while also recording teacher engagement. The goal is to understand what really happens during lessons and ensure no child is left behind.

The project began as a pilot in 18 classrooms across three municipal schools. Its success has since scaled to more than 1,200 classrooms in 120 schools, reaching 44,000 students. Alongside smart LED displays and robotics labs, Wi-Fi access and e-learning platforms were rolled out, and over 1,200 teachers received training to use these tools.

For educators, this shifted teaching from intuition to evidence. Dashboards highlight when students are confused or disengaged, prompting timely interventions. A headmaster noted how the technology helped civic schools “raise the bar”, proving that advanced tools need not be limited to private institutions. 

In many ways, this is frontier tech moving beyond buzzwords, turning data into tools teachers can actually use

This aligns closely with NEP 2020’s call for interactive and flexible learning. It also addresses a global challenge: according to UNESCO’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report, only 65% of principals in OECD countries felt their teachers were well prepared to integrate digital devices into teaching. PCMC’s investment in training shows how India is closing that readiness gap.

Challenges remain — connectivity issues slowed data uploads, and the pandemic delayed implementation when masks interfered with facial recognition. Yet the lessons proved valuable, and the city is now exploring local servers to simplify data use.

For students, the impact lies in no longer being invisible. For teachers, it has meant accountability and a chance to grow with new methods. Together, they are showing how municipal schools can lead in innovation.

Inside government school labs where kids are building robots 

In 2018, at a national robotics championship, an eight-year-old boy from a Gujarati-medium government school stunned the audience with a simple invention. Using borrowed devices and YouTube tutorials, he had built a seed-sowing bot to help his father, a farmer without cattle, plough fields on time.

For Payal Manan Rajpal, founder of ‘Robotex India’, the moment was transformative. Surrounded by sleek machines from private schools, this child’s creation showed how much untapped potential lay in students from marginalised backgrounds. “It was amazing to see how he managed to build something so practical with so little,” she recalls.

She realised frontier tech, if brought to rural labs, could unlock talent that usually goes unnoticed.

Determined to bridge this divide, Payal launched ‘Robotex for Rural’ in 2019. Supported by CSR partners, the programme has since introduced more than 24,000 students across five states to coding, robotics, and AI. Girls, too, are stepping into spaces once closed to them through the ‘Girls Who Build Robots’ initiative, which has enabled students to compete — and win — in international contests.

When schools shut during the pandemic, Robotex quickly moved online. Parents collected robotics kits from schools, while trainers guided students remotely. From biomedical waste-collecting robots to floor disinfection bots, children designed solutions that reflected both creativity and resilience.

This effort connects to a global trend: according to HolonIQ, global spending on edtech is projected to reach $404 billion by 2025, underscoring the scale of investment flowing into learning technologies. Robotex India ensures children from underserved communities are not left behind.

For students like Shani Pawar from Pimpri-Chinchwad, the change has been personal. The son of a single mother working as a security guard, he built a biomedical waste robot and presented it proudly — proof that access to skills can nurture ambition against all odds.

What these stories mean for India’s classrooms

From Tonk’s AI-driven maths classes to Pimpri-Chinchwad’s data-informed schools and Robotex India’s robotics labs, frontier technology is reshaping how children learn. These stories reveal a shift away from rote lessons towards classrooms that nurture curiosity, confidence, and equal opportunity.

Access, however, remains the key. While only 55.9% of Indians were using the internet in 2022, 85.5% of households now own a smartphone. For millions of children, that device may be their first real gateway to learning.

The path forward is clear: build tools that reach every child, support teachers to use them well, and create classrooms where no student is invisible. India’s children are not passengers in this journey — they are co-creators of a more confident, inclusive future.

Classrooms are only the beginning. Explore how frontier tech is transforming lives and livelihoods across India.

And you can be a part of it here.

Sources:

‘Tonk’s AI leap: How a small district is redefining learning outcomes in rural India’: by Shivani Gupta for The Better India, Published on 17 July 2025.

‘Pimpri Chinchwad: Smart City Initiative Introduces Artificial Intelligence in 50 Municipal Schools’: by Vikas Shinde for Pune Mirror, Published on 1 February 2024

‘PCMC chief calls for use of AI, digital literacy in schools’: by Express News Service, Published on 23 July 2025

‘AI to Seed Sowing Bots: Meet the Team Teaching 24,000 Govt School Kids Robotics’: by Rinchen Norbu Wangchuk for The Better India, Published on 14 December 2021

‘Robotex India 2025’: by Robotex India

‘1 Year Achievements of the NEP 2020 Implementation’: by Government of India, Ministry of Education, Published on 2 August 2021

‘Tonk’s AI Leap: How a Small District is Redefining Learning Outcomes in Rural India’: by NITI Frontier Tech Hub, Updated on 05 August 2025

‘AI in the Classroom: How Pimpri Chinchwad is Monitoring Learning Through Smart Analytics’: by NITI Frontier Tech Hub

‘Bridging the digital divide: How Robotex India is transforming education for government school students’: by NITI Frontier Tech Hub

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com