Fadnavis: Gen Z and Gen Alpha have plenty of information but not knowledge

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that Gen Z and Gen Alpha were born in an age of an explosion of information and technology. They therefore have plenty of information, but not the knowledge that should rest on it. According to Fadnavis, the responsibility for turning the information that today's students and young people have into knowledge lies with teachers and principals.

He was speaking at the concluding session of the ninth International Principals' Academic Conference held in Nagpur.

On education in the mother tongue, Fadnavis said that in all developed countries the academic curriculum is in the mother tongue. In all developing countries, by contrast, the curriculum is in the language of the country that once ruled them. The new education policy stresses mother-tongue education for this reason. He said children's mental development is rapid up to the age of five, and conversations with children in the mother tongue during that time play an important role in it.

On social media, he said it need not be rejected altogether, and the focus should be on how it is used. Fadnavis said everyone says today's student is caught up in the mobile phone, but all of us are just as absorbed in it. Our attention span too has shrunk to a few seconds. What is needed, he said, is attention to how mobiles and social media are used, not their complete rejection.

On the technological gap between urban and rural areas, the Chief Minister said the gap exists but is now narrowing. According to him, it will be gone in five years.

On AI, he said it has no human sensitivity and no ethics. These are the values of the education system, he said, and AI does not have them.

At the event, Nitish Bhardwaj voiced some expectations of the government. Fadnavis said in response that these would certainly be considered.