Innovative reforms being implemented in education sector, says Himachal CM Sukhu

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 23 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday inaugurated the Vidhya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) in partnership with Conve Genius, an EdTech social enterprise, from his official residence in Shimla.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, "VSK powered by Swift Chat AI would enable technology and data-driven systemic change in all the schools of Himachal Pradesh. Through the integration of AI technology and governance, the children will be equipped with powerful visualisations to enhance decision-making capabilities and improve learning outcomes and we will support all the students, teachers, and administrators with the right insights, content and updated information at the right time. VSK will also help to monitor the impact of all key programmes on the phone."
The Chief Minister said that innovative reforms and advanced technologies were being implemented in the education sector to meet future challenges and modern technology.

The VSK will be hosting a range of conversational AI chatbots on Swift Chat, which will act like digital buddies, guiding students, assisting teachers, and providing valuable data for administrators. It will present dashboards and reports for districts, blocks, and individual schools. This real-time data will offer invaluable insights into student progress, teacher training and overall school performance. Teachers can now tweak their teaching strategies based on real-time feedback and remediation support, ensuring every student gets the attention they need to boost learning outcomes, he remarked.

He said that the previous government opened schools with political gains but did not provide adequate facilities, due to which the quality of education dipped. Because of this very reason, the state government denotified 900 schools.
CM Sukhu said that many reforms in the education sector would be visible in the next academic session, for which the cooperation of parents, teachers and students is necessary. He said that the primary responsibility of teachers today was to prepare the students for future challenges.
The government intends to develop an education system in which students studying in government schools will feel proud and equitable with the convent-school kids. The state government has introduced new-age courses like artificial intelligence and data learning in technical educational institutions, he said.
The Chief Minister said that, as promised in the Congress Pratigya Patra," the government has fulfilled its third guarantee, wherein English-medium schools will be started from class first from the next academic session in the government sector.
He said that the state government was opening Rajiv Gandhi Government Day-Boarding Schools to improve the quality of education and was also providing funds to complete the under-construction Atal Adarsh Schools.
He said that to enhance the capability, the teachers would be sent abroad for exposure visits batch-wise.
Speaking at the occasion, State Education Minister Rohit Thakur said that VSK would not only strengthen the teaching-learning process but would also create a brighter future for every student in the state, in addition to high standardisation of education.
He said that VSK will prove a milestone in this direction. The state government has also approved filling the posts of 6,000 teachers. Besides, the process of batch-wise recruitment is also going on, he remarked.
Shashank Pandey, President of the Conve Genius Group, said, "Our collaboration with Himachal VSK showcases the exciting potential of integrating conversational AI with education strategy. The vision is to make EdTech extremely swift, smart, and simple to foster meaningful learning experiences at the last mile and ensure sustainable impact in education."
Earlier, Secretary (Education), Rakesh Kanwar welcomed the Chief Minister on the occasion and provided an insight into the project.
State Project Director Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Rajesh Sharma presented a vote of thanks.
MLA Harish Janartha, Principal Advisor (media) Naresh Chauhan, Political Advisor to the Chief Minister Sunil Sharma, Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Minister Vivek Bhatia and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion. (ANI)