The Suman High School Board, which is run by the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), recently announced that it will start offering courses in artificial intelligence, drone, robotics, and coding, for students of Classes 9 to 12 from the next academic year. The civic body runs two school boards — the Municipal School Board for students from Classes 1 to 8, and the Suman High School Board which runs secondary and higher secondary sections. Giving further details, SMC Commissioner Shalini Agrawal said, “The purpose of starting such basic courses in artificial intelligence, drone, robotics, and coding is to make the students aware of the subjects… We have also made provision for starting the courses in the municipal corporation budget of 2024-25. By doing this, we would make our students skilled.” “We have gone through the presentations of five agencies that showed interest in starting such courses in the municipal schools of Surat. These are professional agencies that impart education in private institutions,” she added. Surat Suman School Board administrator Dharmesh Patel said they have planned to start the courses as a pilot project in 10 schools. “To overcome the financial burden, we are zeroing in on the Public-Private Partnership model and also on CSR funds,” he added.
