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🇮🇳 India /Culture & Society

PM Modi announces free online coaching for competitive exams, AI training for 1 crore youth

From Hindustan Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free online coaching for competitive exams and AI training for 10 million youth.
  • The initiative aims to reduce the financial burden on poor and middle-class families and provide accessible education.
  • This announcement follows recent youth-led protests concerning examination reforms and paper leaks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled plans to offer free online coaching for competitive examinations and provide artificial intelligence (AI) training to 10 million young people over the next year. The initiative aims to alleviate the significant financial pressure faced by poor and middle-class families in accessing educational support.

Speaking on Independence Day from the Red Fort, Modi highlighted the immense pressure on parents to send their children to coaching centers, framing it as a societal expectation. "Every parent feels that if they do not send their children to a coaching centre, they are somehow falling behind or do not belong to a respectable family," he stated. The government's goal is to help families save substantial amounts spent on private coaching.

"Therefore, we have decided to provide free online coaching for various competitive examinations for our youth," Modi announced. He emphasized leveraging existing digital public infrastructure and collaborating with talented teachers and educators to build a comprehensive network for this purpose. The aim is to allow young people to study closer to home while receiving quality preparation.

Every parent feels that if they do not send their children to a coaching centre, they are somehow falling behind or do not belong to a respectable family.

— Narendra ModiDescribing the societal pressure and financial burden associated with private coaching.

The announcement arrives in the wake of widespread youth-led protests concerning issues such as the NEET-UG exam paper leak and demands for examination reforms. These agitations brought the challenges within the examination and coaching system to the forefront, contributing to a shift in the political landscape regarding education policy.

This initiative builds upon existing government efforts. Platforms like IIT Kanpur's SATHEE (Self-Assessment Test and Help for Entrance Exams) already offer free online educational content for various competitive exams, with over 2.1 million learners registered. The education ministry has also established an expert committee to propose reforms aimed at reducing reliance on private coaching and curbing the rise of "dummy schools."

Therefore, we have decided to provide free online coaching for various competitive examinations for our youth.

— Narendra ModiAnnouncing the government's new initiative to support students.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hindustan Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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