Tech giant Google today announced a strategic partnership with India’s apex educational body, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), to improve accessibility to quality education across the country. The partnership helps students, parents, and teachers find engaging, high-quality content in the educational context. This collaboration aligns with the growing demand and the need to integrate top trending courses in India into mainstream education.

In the upcoming months, NCERT will launch several YouTube channels for grades 1–12 as part of this program. These channels will have educational content in 29 Indian languages, including Indian Sign Language, to reach diverse learners. This initiative will cater to students seeking top professional courses and enhance the overall learning experience.

Jonathan Katzman, Product Manager at YouTube Learning, wrote an important blog post for Google as the director of product management in which he said, “Learning has always been at the heart of YouTube. Additionally, YouTube can help make educational content more accessible in India through creative collaborations, tools, and resources, where accessible education is essential to maximizing the country’s potential.”

In addition to the YouTube channels, Google has collaborated with the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) to launch credentialed courses. NPTEL offers 50 credentialed courses on a variety of subjects, ranging from pure sciences and literature to sports psychology and rocket propulsion. This initiative provides a route through which any individual outside the IIT system can finish a course on NPTEL’s YouTube channels, complete the online certification on the NPTEL-SWAYAM portal, and receive a certificate from the IITs. Such offerings are a boon for professional certifications.

Google has unveiled Key Concepts, which can be used to further enhance student study. The feature applies artificial intelligence in identifying concepts within a film and offers definitions from a network of those concepts—from biology, and physics, to chemistry. The definitions and graphics are acquired from Google’s Knowledge Graph using the movie’s transcript and other video metadata. This advancement is a step forward in aligning with top trending courses in India that emphasize technology-driven learning.

This initiative will allow anyone outside the IIT system to be able to do a course on NPTEL’s YouTube channels, complete the online certification on the NPTEL-SWAYAM portal, and receive a certificate from the IITs. He went on to say, “More courses will be rolled out in the coming months.”

Another innovative product developed to better present YouTube videos in common educational tools is Google’s YouTube Player for Education. A partner creates a wide range of learning activities, including interactive lessons, extra research, and formative assessments, using the YouTube player for education. The player was also incorporated into the tools of edtech businesses like Quizizz and Teachmint, as well as Classroom in India. Indeed, it is being used in classrooms all across the world, facilitating access to top professional courses through interactive digital platforms.

YouTube recently launched the AI Skills House program, providing access to Google’s flagship courses on AI on YouTube. It also includes some courses that people have never seen before, such as Introduction to Generative AI, Introduction to Responsible AI, and Introduction to Large Language Models, all now free of cost. This program has been extended to be translated into seven Indian languages, making free online courses more accessible to a broader audience.

Cooperation between Google and NCERT is a significant step in exploring the potential of technology to improve education quality in India. It underlines the opportunity that new alliances have to reshape the face of education and unleash this country’s full potential. It also reflects the trend of greater integration of technology into learning, contributing to the growth of ed-tech companies and the increased use of AI in teaching. With initiatives like this, it will be interesting to see how this collaboration impacts India’s education system and encourages similar projects worldwide.