'AI double-edged sword in education sector', educationist calls for ensuring data privacy
New Delhi (PTI): Artificial intelligence is a force multiplier in the education sector but unethical use of AI tools for cheating, data and privacy breach is a matter of concern, according to educationist Shishir Jaipuria.
Jaipuria, Chairman of the Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, said the purpose of education is to nurture knowledgeable, skilled, conscientious and emotionally strong individuals who go on to make a positive impact on society, but the rat race defeats it and pushes students to take extreme steps.
“The advent and prevalence of artificial intelligence has been a watershed moment in the history of human progress. AI is not just transforming industries, but also reshaping the jobs of the future. Its integration and application in the education sector will have far-reaching implications," Jaipuria told PTI.
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“AI platforms allow schools to map each child's learning style, identify the learning gaps, and recognise the strengths and weaknesses to optimise learning outcomes. Secondly, AI is helping teachers cut down on their routine tasks, improving productivity, efficiency and allowing more time for classroom delivery,” he added.
By adopting artificial intelligence, many schools have created an ecosystem of personalised learning, Jaipuria said.
With the availability of information on the internet, technology promotes self-learning in geographies that don't have an adequate number of teachers. Having said that, there are legitimate concerns regarding the ethical use of AI, he highlighted.
“There have been instances of AI being used for cheating, particularly in online assessments. Schools also have to develop guardrails to prevent data breaches and ensure privacy,” he said.
The educationist also highlighted that teacher training and professional development have to be directed towards creating digital competencies to enable educators to leverage the full potential of AI.
“Pre-emptive measures coupled with guardrails and policy initiatives and investments to close digital infrastructural gaps can make AI a force multiplier in the education sector,” he underlined.
On the changes in school education after the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), Jaipuria said that NEP-2020 is a forward-looking document envisioning competency-based education with a focus on interdisciplinary approach, critical thinking, experiential learning, multilingualism and research.
“On the other hand, there is a need to speed up the implementation of NEP. Challenges do exist in the form of nationwide implementation of the three-language formula, with resistance from the southern states. There also needs to be an uptick in annual budgetary allocation for education to reach the proposed figure of 6 per cent of GDP,” he pointed out.
On the incidents of student suicide, Jaipuria said, “They are extremely unfortunate. I see it as a larger issue – a societal and systemic problem. At a very fundamental level, we have to clearly understand the purpose of education.
“The purpose is to nurture knowledgeable, skilled, conscientious and emotionally strong individuals who go on to make a positive impact on society. But if this purpose is neglected in the race to crack competitive exams and secure top grades, the pressure of performance builds up on the learners.”
Jaipuria stressed that this problem needs to be addressed collaboratively by the schools, parents and communities.
“Success should not be viewed through the lens of marks or grades alone. We have to adopt a more holistic and broader view. There has to be a strong parental engagement to identify the early signs and address the problem in the nascent stage with early interventions,” he said.
Talking about the Jaipuria Group’s expansion plans, the chairman said the growth roadmap includes expanding to a network of 50 schools by 2030.
Presently, the Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions has a strong presence in north India with 23 K-12 schools, five preschools, two management institutions and one teacher training academy.
“We have a new school coming up in the NCR, and we are targeting new markets in Rajasthan as well. We also plan a stronger outreach through our Saamarthya Teachers Training Academy of Research (STTAR) to facilitate professional development of teachers, school development programmes and education leadership projects,” he said.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
