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VMPL
New Delhi [India], September 5: Teachers Day 2026 comes as Indias education system is being asked to prepare students for a very different economy. AI and digital platforms have changed how quickly students can find information. Theres a larger reason for that shift. India wants to become a developed nation by 2047 under the Viksit Bharat vision, and its education system has to prepare young people for work that will keep changing. Dr. Rajesh Jain, Registrar, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, sees technology and policy moving this change forward. The expansion of digital learning and free AI initiatives such as MeitY's YUVA AI for ALL has fundamentally changed how students access knowledge, shifting the educator's role from content delivery to guidance, mentorship and critical inquiry, he said. Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman, Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, points to the change in students themselves. Students need mentors, facilitators, knowledge guides and catalysts rather than teachers who are mere knowledge providers, he said. From Knowledge to Judgement A student can now find an explanation in seconds. They can ask a chatbot to write code, explain a concept or suggest an answer. The teachers job increasingly begins after that first answer appears. As per Mr. Rahul Mehra, Executive Chairman, Tarang Health Alliance & Indian Health Alliance; National Representative of India, UNESCO Chair for Global Health & Education " In an era where knowledge is universally accessible through the internet and AI, the educator's role has shifted from providing information to developing skills and character. As facilitators, educators guide students through critical thinking, helping them navigate and synthesize vast information. As mentors, they build emotional resilience, instill values, and help students discover their potential. As catalysts for growth, they ignite curiosity, encourage lifelong learning, and prepare young people to face complex challenges. On Teacher's Day, let's recognize the greatest educators - not for what they taught, but for how they shaped the way a person thinks and developed people who improve the world." Dr. (Prof.) Tapan Kumar Nayak, Director, Jaipuria School of Business, said, Knowledge is accessible instantly to everyone; what students need is the ability to analyse, interpret and apply it. In coding education, the change is already visible. Vivek Prakash, Co-founder and CEO of Codingal, said educators are moving away from simply teaching the right syntax towards getting students to understand why an approach works. This means moving away from dictating the right syntax, and instead asking why an approach works, encouraging children to debug their own logic and sit with failure until they solve it, he said. Teachers Develop the Learner AI is beginning to take over some routine work around learning. It can organise material, adjust the pace of a lesson and help with assessments. Teachers then have more time for conversations and decisions that require someone who knows the student.Manit Jain, Founder of the Humain AI Literacy Mission, describes that change in practical terms. Let the machine drill the concept, mark the quiz. What comes back to the teacher is time, he said. With it she can go back to teaching the child rather than just teaching the subject. The new role looks far more like a coach than a lecturer. Shishir Jaipuria makes much the same point. Teachers will now be able to relegate repetitive and non-teaching tasks to technology and have more time to focus on children's learning and development, he said. Chaitanya Chitta, Senior Vice President and Regional Head, Cintana Education, said, Technology can personalise a lesson; a human educator can personalise a student's journey. Algorithms can identify where a learner is struggling, but educators recognise the hesitation behind a question, the confidence behind an idea and the potential that may not yet be visible in data. Kunal Vasudeva, Co-founder and Managing Director of the Indian School of Hospitality, believes students need that discomfort. Students also need friction. They need to hear an argument they disagree with, work with people they may not naturally choose, fail at something and then deal with it, he said. Technology can make learning easier to access. Teachers still have to decide when easier isn't better. Learning Has to Leave the Textbook NEP 2020 has encouraged multidisciplinary and experiential learning. Higher-education reforms have also opened more room for research, credit mobility, internships and practical exposure. Government programmes around AI, skilling, innovation and entrepreneurship are adding another layer: students are expected to understand technology and use it, rather than simply study it. For Viksit Bharat, the connection is straightforward. India will need graduates who can work across disciplines, build enterprises, solve problems and respond to new technologies. Those abilities are difficult to develop through examinations alone. Prof. Rahul Singh, Director & Professor, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, said some institutions are already changing the balance between classroom and outside-class learning. Some of the best institutions are implementing a 50:50 model of classroom and outside-class learning starting a start-up idea during the degree, and validating it against the market, he said. At Jaipuria School of Business, Tapan Nayak sees value in giving students problems that resemble the ones they will face after graduation. Students need opportunities to work on live business problems, interact with entrepreneurs and industry leaders, undertake internships, participate in simulations and manage projects with real outcomes, he said. Vasudeva takes the idea further. Real briefs, real clients, deadlines, budgets, failure, disagreement, consequences. Students need to experience all of that while they still have educators around them to help them reflect and recover. A syllabus can take time to change. Industry doesn't wait. Faculty need opportunities to stay close to current practice, while professionals can bring current problems into classrooms. Jaipuria said, Academia has to forge a strong connection with industry to bridge the gap between classroom theory and fast-paced real-world demands of the future. Experts from diverse industries should be part of the teaching faculty in higher education. Chaitanya Chitta said the connection can happen through real business problems, industry interactions, live projects and multidisciplinary challenges, with faculty helping students make sense of what they encounter. Where Policy Meets the Classroom The broad policy direction is already in place. NEP 2020 has shifted attention towards multidisciplinary and student-centred learning. AI initiatives are widening access to basic AI knowledge, while changes in higher education are giving students more opportunities for research, internships, credit mobility and practical learning.The harder part comes inside the classroom. A policy can recommend experiential learning. A teacher decides whether a project becomes a box-ticking exercise or a genuine problem to solve. The same applies to AI. A student can use a tool to get an answer, but the teacher can ask why that answer should be trusted. Manit Jain believes students also need to become comfortable with uncertainty. We must build a positive relationship with struggle and with ambiguity and change, because that is what adaptability really means, he said. Employers have stopped asking what you know. They are asking how you respond when nobody knows. Students moving into higher education, employment or entrepreneurship will encounter incomplete information, changing requirements and problems that have no ready-made solution. Vasudeva sums up the capability in simple terms: Higher study, employment and entrepreneurship all reward the same capability the ability to act on incomplete information.Becoming a developed nation by 2047 will require people who can learn continuously, work with technology, question what they are told and turn ideas into something useful. The classroom of 2027 may have better tools and faster access to information. Students will still need someone to teach them when to use those tools, when to question them and when to put them aside. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
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