Stories
Childhood in the AI Era: Are Schools Essential for Holistic Development?
- •In today's AI era, children solve problems with technology, raising questions about its impact on their development as better human beings.
- •Praneet Mungali, Trustee of Sanskriti Group of Schools, believes only schools and gurus can instill sensitivity, ethics, and social feelings in children.
- •Schools offer more than book knowledge; they provide real-life lessons, emotional connections with teachers, and practical social skills.
- •Over-reliance on AI or gadgets can lead to loneliness, whereas schools foster teamwork, leadership, and real-world relationships.
- •The New Education Policy 2020 advocates using AI as an educational tool, but emphasizes the continued importance of human values and schools for children's holistic development.
Key Questions Answered
While AI can provide data and information, it lacks emotions and cannot replace the emotional connection, sensitivity, and ethics taught by teachers and schools. The school environment and interactions with peers are essential for building teamwork, leadership, and real-world relationships.
The New Education Policy 2020 teaches that AI and technology should be used as a helpful medium to make education easier and to reach disabled children or those in remote areas. However, technology should remain a tool rather than a master, ensuring children do not lose their independent thinking and originality.
The traditional guru-shishya model emphasizes that true knowledge is not just about gathering information, but about applying it meaningfully in life. Teachers build emotional bonds that help children learn how to behave in society, respect elders, and treat others with love, which cannot be downloaded into software.
