Odisha will introduce an Artificial Intelligence course for students enrolled in its Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP), replacing the existing Good Citizenship course in the second semester from the 2026-27 academic session. The move is intended to give students basic AI knowledge and workplace-oriented skills before they begin the industry apprenticeship component of their degree.
Director of higher education Kaliprasanna Mohapatra has directed registrars and principals of higher education institutions to introduce ‘AI for All’ as a value-added course for AEDP students. Institutions have been asked to complete the necessary academic and administrative arrangements and communicate the instructions to the relevant sections.
The course will be the same ‘AI for All’ programme already introduced as a skill enhancement course for non-AEDP students in the second semester. According to the higher education department, the course is designed to provide basic knowledge of artificial intelligence and practical competencies relevant to changing workplace requirements.
The decision comes as Odisha expands AEDP, an employment-oriented undergraduate programme that combines conventional academic study with industry-linked apprenticeship training. The programme was introduced in the previous academic session in 31 higher education institutions across two subjects. For 2026-27, it has been expanded to 81 institutions offering 11 subjects, including commerce, home science, economics, history, English, zoology, mathematics, library science, chemistry, geology and botany.
Under the AEDP structure, students complete two years of academic learning followed by one year of apprenticeship training. The apprenticeship component is intended to provide practical workplace experience alongside the degree, and students receive a stipend during the training period. The state has also set a target of bringing at least 10,000 undergraduate students under apprenticeship, internship and community-engagement initiatives during the current academic session.
The department has linked the AI course to the programme’s broader employment focus, while also taking steps to ensure that the vocational structure does not limit students’ future education options. In August, it directed universities and autonomous colleges to facilitate additional subject choices through multidisciplinary and skill enhancement courses. Those arrangements were intended to help students meet subject requirements for postgraduate studies and competitive examinations.
Last month, the department launched the ‘AI for All’ course in collaboration with NASSCOM. Through that initiative, more than one lakh students and faculty members across Odisha’s higher education system are expected to receive online AI training. Mohapatra said the introduction of AI as a value-added course was another step towards aligning undergraduate education with changing workplace requirements.
Higher education institutions have been instructed to implement the course during the 2026-27 academic session. The department’s directions make the institutions responsible for putting the academic and administrative arrangements in place before the second-semester course is conducted.
