Sikkim's Education Department has launched an AI-based pilot program called AI-FunZone in 71 government schools across Gangtok district, covering about 2,100 students in Classes 3, 4, and 5. The program, started on September 20, uses software that listens to children reading aloud daily, noting pronunciation difficulties and math errors to track each child's progress in real time, according to medianama.com.
The pilot is a collaboration between Sikkim's Education Department and the Bengaluru-based non-profit EkStep Foundation, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2026. EkStep, founded by Nandan Nilekani, Rohini Nilekani, and Shankar Maruwada, already runs a similar program in over a thousand schools in Karnataka. The AI-FunZone program operates in English, Nepali, and Mathematics across the Khamdong, Nandok, and Martam blocks, feeding data into a dashboard accessible to educators.
This initiative builds continuous individual learning records from children's voices and errors, raising questions about data privacy. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which includes provisions on children's data, will only come into effect on May 13, 2027, and exempts educational institutions from parts of the law. The pilot's outcomes in Sikkim could influence similar programs in other states, given EkStep's existing footprint in Karnataka.
The pilot's implementation in 71 schools and its coverage of 2,100 students mark a significant step in integrating AI into foundational education in India, with the potential to shape future educational data practices and policies.