Devyani Jaipuria on future of education: Preparing students for an AI-driven world
Education has traditionally been assessed by well-known indicators such as school attendance, exam results, degrees and academic performance. However, with the changing nature of education in the digi
Education has traditionally been assessed by well-known indicators such as school attendance, exam results, degrees and academic performance. However, with the changing nature of education in the digital age, information is growing in volume and educational disparities are growing more pronounced, the concept of meaningful education is starting to shift. The bigger question today is not just whether a child has access to a classroom, but whether that classroom gives them the confidence, curiosity, critical thinking and skills to cope with a more complex world.
Education for Devyani Jaipuria, Educationist, Philanthropist and Pro-Vice Chairperson, DPS International School and DPS Sector 45, Gurgaon, is all about possibilities. Through her work in mainstream education and in projects like Shiksha Kendra, she has had a first-hand look at the opportunities and inequalities in the Indian education system. Her voice is not just academic, it’s digital and AI literacy, independent thinking, sports, wellbeing and the skills young people will need to succeed in the future.
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As India moves towards a more technology-driven and capability-focused education ecosystem, Jaipuria believes the country must shift its focus from simply expanding access to creating meaningful, inclusive and future-ready learning. In this conversation, she discusses what true literacy should mean in the age of AI, why schools must teach children to question information rather than merely consume it, the emerging digital capability gap, and what it will take to prepare today’s students not just for the future of work, but for the future of society.
- Your work with underserved communities through Shiksha Kendra has given you a close view of educational inequality. What has this journey taught you about the gap between access to education and access to meaningful learning?
My work with underserved communities has made me realise that the real measure of educational equity is not how many children enter a classroom, but how many are empowered to learn, participate and progress because of it.
Access is undoubtedly the first barrier we must address, but it is not the final destination. A child may have a school, books and a teacher, yet still be deprived of meaningful learning if they lack foundational skills, a nurturing environment, parental support, exposure to new experiences or the confidence to express themselves.
At Shiksha Kendra, I have seen that when children are given the right support and an environment where they feel valued, their aspirations can change dramatically. They begin to ask questions, participate more confidently and imagine possibilities that may previously have seemed beyond their reach.
This is why I believe the next phase of India’s education journey must move from access to engagement, from enrolment to learning outcomes, and from basic literacy to capability. Educational inequality today is not only about who gets an education; it is about the quality, relevance and possibilities that education creates for different children.
- India’s literacy conversation has traditionally focused on the ability to read and write. In an age of AI, misinformation and digital platforms, do we now need to redefine what it means to be literate? What should this new definition include?
Yes, without question. Literacy must evolve because the world in which literacy operates has changed.
Reading and writing will always remain the foundation, but today’s child is navigating an environment where information is abundant, instantaneous and increasingly difficult to authenticate. Being able to read something does not necessarily mean being able to understand it, question it or determine whether it deserves to be believed.
I would therefore define 21st-century literacy as the ability to access information, comprehend it, interrogate it, verify it and use it responsibly. That encompasses digital literacy, media literacy, information literacy and increasingly AI literacy.
But there is also a deeper dimension. A literate person should be able to recognise bias, understand context, listen to perspectives different from their own and make reasoned decisions.
AI makes this even more important. When a machine can produce an answer in seconds, our greatest educational responsibility is not to teach children how to obtain answers faster, but how to judge the quality of an answer and understand the thinking behind it.
In that sense, the future of literacy is not simply about knowing more. It is about knowing what to trust, what to question and what to do with what we know.
- As AI becomes increasingly integrated into education, are we preparing students to think independently with AI, or are we at risk of raising a generation that becomes dependent on it for answers?
There is certainly a risk of dependency if we introduce AI into education without first strengthening the habit of independent thinking.
I do not see AI as something schools should resist. On the contrary, students must understand it because it will be part of their academic, professional and everyday lives. But AI should extend a student’s thinking, not replace it.
There is an important difference between asking AI to help you explore a subject and asking it to do the thinking for you. If a student uses AI to generate an essay without developing an argument, solve a problem without understanding the method or answer a question without verifying the information, the technology may make the task easier while making the learning weaker.
Our classrooms therefore need to preserve the value of questioning, debate, reflection, experimentation and even failure. Students should be encouraged to challenge AI outputs, identify errors, compare perspectives and bring their own judgement to the process.
Ultimately, I would like to see students become AI-enabled but not AI-dependent, young people who can use technology intelligently while retaining the curiosity, judgement and confidence to think for themselves.
- Students today have unprecedented access to information, but access does not necessarily mean understanding. How can schools teach children to question, verify and distinguish credible information from misinformation and AI-generated content?
We need to make critical inquiry a habit rather than a lesson.
Children should not be taught to accept information simply because it appears polished, popular or repeatedly on their screens. They need to develop the instinct to pause and ask: Who created this? What is the evidence? What is the source? Is there another credible perspective? What might be missing from this information?
Schools can build these skills into everyday teaching. A history lesson, for instance, can ask students to compare different accounts of the same event. A science class can examine the evidence behind a viral claim. A media exercise can ask students to distinguish reporting from opinion, advertising or manipulated content.
AI-generated information makes this discipline even more important because the presentation can be extremely convincing even when the underlying information is inaccurate.
But I would emphasise that we should not teach children to fear information or technology; we should teach them to interrogate it. The goal is to create young people who are curious enough to ask questions and disciplined enough to verify before they form conclusions or share something with others.
That is becoming one of the most important forms of literacy.
- You have also been associated with initiatives that look beyond academics, including the launch of the IGNITE Sports Complex. How important is physical activity and sports education in developing well-rounded, confident and future-ready students?
I believe sports should be an integral part of education, not something that happens around academics. This is the philosophy behind IGNITE Indoor Sports Complex at Dharav High School Gurgaon. IGNITE is designed to give students greater opportunities to stay active, participate in sport and develop qualities such as discipline, teamwork, leadership, perseverance and resilience.
In today’s screen-driven environment, creating spaces that encourage movement, play and social interaction is particularly important. Sport also provides a different kind of classroom, where children learn to handle both success and setbacks, build confidence and discover strengths that may not always emerge academically.
For us, IGNITE reflects a broader vision of education, one that focuses not only on academic achievement but on preparing children for life by developing the mind, body and character together.
- Could the next education divide be less about access to technology and more about the ability to use it effectively and responsibly? How can India prevent this emerging digital capability gap?
I believe that is already becoming a reality. The first digital divide was about connectivity; the next one could be about capability.
Simply giving a child, a device does not guarantee meaningful digital participation. The real difference will increasingly lie in whether a young person knows how to search intelligently, evaluate information, use digital tools productively, protect their privacy, understand algorithms and use emerging technologies responsibly.
This is particularly important because children from different socioeconomic backgrounds may have very different levels of guidance even when they have similar access to technology.
India therefore needs to think beyond digital infrastructure and focus equally on digital confidence, digital judgement and digital agency. Teacher training will be critical because educators need to be equipped to guide children through a rapidly changing technological landscape.
We should also ensure that digital education is available in ways that are inclusive of language, geography and socioeconomic realities.
The objective should not simply be to create a digitally connected generation. It should be to create a digitally capable generation ne that can use technology to learn, create and solve problems rather than merely consume content.
- Looking ahead to 2030, what should a truly literate Class XII student be able to do beyond reading and writing? Which skills critical thinking, communication, media literacy, AI awareness, sports and physical wellbeing, or problem-solving will matter most?
By 2030, I believe the truly literate student will be defined less by how much they know and more by how intelligently they can use what they know.
A Class XII graduate should be able to read critically, communicate with clarity, question information, identify misinformation, understand the possibilities and limitations of AI, solve unfamiliar problems and collaborate with people from different backgrounds and perspectives.
But there is another quality I consider equally important: the ability to keep learning. The knowledge a student acquires at 17 or 18 will inevitably evolve. What will remain valuable is the curiosity and confidence to learn, unlearn and relearn.
Physical wellbeing and emotional resilience must also be part of this definition. A future-ready young person needs the ability to manage pressure, cope with setbacks, build healthy relationships and maintain a balanced life.
So, if I were to define the literate student of 2030, I would say they should possess the curiosity to ask, the critical thinking to evaluate, the communication skills to express, the technological awareness to navigate, the problem-solving ability to act and the resilience to keep learning.
That is the kind of literacy that can prepare young people not just for the future of work, but for the future of society.