The ICSE council has launched an inter-school robotics championship to live up to its commitment of providing “experiential learning” and “recognising the transformative role of robotics and artificial intelligence”.

It aims to cultivate an interest in robotics by offering hands-on activities to foster teamwork, creativity and critical thinking for problem-solving by designing robots, the council said in a circular.

“The competition will go beyond traditional classroom learning, offering a transformative educational experience that empowers students to become adept problem solvers and innovators,” the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations said in the circular to school principals issued on Monday.

The council has introduced robotics and AI as a subject in Class X and the first batch of students will take the ICSE in 2025.

In June, the council conducted a five-day training programme for teachers in schools that have either introduced robotics and AI or those who intend to do so.

“With various remarkable scientific and technological advances, there is a need to prepare our students for continuous transformations in the landscape of work and equip them with the necessary skills,” the circular said.

“In its commitment to providing high-quality experiential learning and recognising the transformative role of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, the Council... is launching the first ever CISCE Inter-School Robotics Championship- IRC 2024 for CISCE affiliated schools... The aim of the competition is to create an environment where aspiring young minds can harness their technical skills and collaborate in a spirit of healthy robotics competition.”

The council said each school can register one team and 1,000 teams will be registered on a first come first served basis. The teams will comprise three to five students from Classes IX and XII.

In Calcutta, Sri Sri Academy has already circulated the notice among teachers, expecting them to form a team for the competition. The school has a robotics club from Classes VI upwards.

“We plan to introduce the club for students of Class III onwards from next year. If activities like this generate an interest in robotics, we will introduce it as a subject next year even if we get five students,” said principal Gargi Banerjee.

Principals said AI “is the way forward” and there had to be more activities centred around it.

“If the council is promoting it in the form of a competition it becomes a platform for students and teachers to come forward and explore possibilities in robotics and AI,” said Satabdi Bhattacharya, principal of South City International School.

Mousumi Saha, principal, National English School, Calcutta, said the current generation is technologically inclined and automatically interested in such subjects.