Press Information Bureau · 11 Aug 2026
Strengthening Higher Education for Emerging Technologies
The Government outlined a series of measures to prepare higher education for emerging technologies under the NEP 2020 framework. AICTE has revised its Model Curricula to integrate Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Robotics and Quantum Computing across technical disciplines. In 2025–26, more than 2,100 AICTE-approved institutions offered courses in AI and other emerging areas, with approved intake exceeding 2.80 lakh students. The measures also cover apprenticeships, internships, industry linkages and technology-enabled learning platforms.
Why it matters
The announcement indicates that emerging technologies are moving from specialised electives towards a more systematic place within India's technical-education ecosystem. For universities and engineering institutions, this creates a need to continuously review curricula, faculty capabilities, laboratories, industry partnerships and experiential-learning opportunities as technologies and workforce requirements evolve.
The scale is already substantial: over 75,000 apprentices have benefited from the AI Apprenticeship Programme, while SWAYAM has offered more than 140 AI-related courses attracting over 50 lakh enrolments. SWAYAM Plus has also developed more than 500 employability-oriented courses with over 80 industry partners.
For institutional quality, the development reinforces the importance of demonstrating that curriculum revisions translate into meaningful skills, practical exposure and employability. Industry-linked internships, apprenticeship-embedded degrees, interdisciplinary learning and measurable student outcomes are therefore likely to become increasingly important indicators of how effectively institutions respond to technological change.
Source: Press Information Bureau (opens in a new tab)
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