WB Council for Higher Education to introduce AI & data science for classes XI-XII from academic year 2023-24

‘Hopeful that around 100 schools across state would be able to introduce these two new subjects’ 

Sristhi Lakhotia,, MP,  26 Apr 2023:  The West Bengal Council for Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has brought out an official notice stating that the two new subjects, data science and artificial intelligence (AI) will be introduced for classes XI-XII from the academic session 2023-24. 

According to Council president Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, many schools have shown interest soon after the release of the notice. “The Council is hopeful that around 100 schools across the state would be able to introduce these two new subjects. 

However, the official understanding of how many schools will actually be applying will be known later,” Bhattacharjee said. The Council has notified the schools who may be interested in introducing these subjects to apply to the Council from May 2 to June 30, this year. 

“Application for subject permission for data science and artificial intelligence should be submitted by hand at the academic session of Vidyasagar Bhavan for this year (i.e. academic year 2023-24 only,” the Council notified. 

One of the preliminary requirements is for the school to be already teaching computer science as a subject and have a proper laboratory facility available for teaching the subject. They should have a permanently approved teacher with a minimum qualification of BSC in computer science or IT or BE/B. Tech in computer science or IT. 

They will need a graduate in physics, chemistry or mathematics with a course in artificial intelligence or data science. 

The candidate must have studied artificial intelligence, and machine learning either as part of the undergraduate or postgraduate curriculum or as part of postgraduate certificate courses on AI-ML, and data science from a reputed institute. 

They should also be familiar with the Python programming language. Artificial intelligence is effective in various fields like mobile phones, televisions, smart cars and even for catching fake news, Bhattacharjee reiterated, while adding: “AI application is everywhere. Basic concepts should be introduced.” 

On the teachers’ training for the introduction of the two subjects, Bhattacharjee had said that at present the state government schools have computer science as a subject but knowledge in just that will not be enough. 

“Training teachers for the subject introduction is one issue. The existing teachers’ pool needs to be used for this. Schools can also call guest faculty from adjoining universities if needed,” Bhattacharjee said. The Council may arrange a training programme for ten days for the teachers either in June or July. 

A detailed notification, according to the Council, will be uploaded regarding the training program in the near future. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/wb-council-for-higher-education-to-introduce-ai-data-science-for-classes-xi-xii-from-academic-year-2023-24-516559