AI education is knocking on school doors in India. OpenAI made a big announcement to give away 5 lakh free ChatGPT Plus accounts to teachers and students. They introduced the “India-first” Learning Accelerator initiative on August 25, 2025, which is the biggest education project ever. Why should this matter to you? Well, this is relevant to you if you have kids at home. We all know how prevalent the “ratta maar” (rote memorization) concept is in the Indian education system. That is about to change with AI. This project is said to give students a better understanding of the subject matter than it does now. Having said all that, will this project truly push students beyond just copying homework from AI? Find out more.
How Will the Distribution Take Place?
Considering that India is the largest student market for ChatGPT, it has launched a significant project. Apparently, OpenAI is partnering with three main entities to distribute these accounts:
- Ministry of Education (India) → The ministry will give these free accounts primarily to government school teachers from grades 1 to 12.
- Ministry of Education (India) → The council will allocate accounts to technical institutes (such as engineering and tech students and faculty) to support their research.
- ARISE member schools → These are private/K-12 schools (more than 1800 schools across 20 states in India). They will also gain access to the accounts.
Later in the year, OpenAI will also open its first office in New Delhi.
New Leadership for This Education Push
OpenAI appointed Raghav Gupta (formerly the head of Coursera in India and Asia) as the Head of Education for India and the Asia Pacific (APAC). He is expected to collaborate with various schools, universities, and the government to drive the initiative.
Why is OpenAI’s “India-first” Learning Accelerator initiative Important?
According to an article published in 2012 in ‘The Times of India,’ about 75% of second-year engineering students failed in at least one subject after scoring high on 12 exams. And rote memorization is to blame for this. Such a practice is still common in India, and after the introduction of AI, even homework (copying) is neglected. The main goal of the initiative is to use AI to help students understand subjects better and encourage deep thinking, unlike now.
OpenAI Research Support in India
OpenAI is also funding $500,000 (around ₹4 crore) for a research project with IIT Madras. The research will study:
- How AI can change the regular teaching methods.
- How students benefit from AI tools like ChatGPT in the long run.
OpenAI Academy
Meanwhile, OpenAI Academy (an AI literacy program launched in June 2025) will work toward the same goal. To achieve this, OpenAI is partnering with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The program will train both students and teachers to understand the basics of AI and technology.
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