Not ‘delulu’ — an AI tutor for every child in India
The article proposes that the Indian government should leverage AI to provide free, high-quality tutoring to students, aiming to bridge the gap in the test-preparation market. It suggests a 'public rail, private engines' model where the state provides infrastructure while the private sector supplies educational content.
Why it matters
This addresses the high cost of private coaching in India and proposes a scalable, technology-driven solution to improve educational equity for millions of students.
Indian students rank among the top students almost anywhere in the world. The joke is that, from the womb to the afterlife, they are taught to study maths and science which serves them well throughout life. A report by Redseer says that India’s test-preparation market has been estimated at $14.8 billion in FY26, projected to reach $23-$26 billion by FY30 (12%-15% CAGR), with around 2,00,000 coaching centres nationwide. There are 65 million students in classes 9-12, of whom around 27 million attend government schools. A 2025 National Statistical Office survey found that 27% of students were taking or had taken private coaching in the academic year (30.7% urban, 25.5% rural). Across datasets, coaching incidence is around 27%-30%, implying that 17 million to 20 million students in classes 9-12 participate in some form of test-prep coaching.
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