TEHRAN – The third national event on future schools will be held in February, highlighting the use of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blended learning in fostering thinking skills and creativity, as well as collaboration among the future generation of students.

Future school and the public education system (the role of teacher and student in future schools, modern teaching and learning approaches, schools and students with specific needs); Future school, a center for education and development of community (schools as social institution for the development of the neighbourhood, school’s interaction with cultural, social, and urban institutions); Future school and physical environment (designing green schools, utilizing renewable energies and modern construction technologies); and Future school, equipment, educational technologies (modern educational tools and technologies, AI-based learning platforms, digital infrastructures) will be the four key topics of the event.

Technology and knowledge-based companies, consulting engineers, universities and research centers, science and technology parks, professors and students, and researchers in technical, engineering, humanities, art, and psychology fields are among the main target audiences of the event.

‘Iran Digital’ aims to teach AI to four million students

Iran Digital, a national program, aims to teach artificial intelligence (AI) to four million students free of charge in the next Iranian calendar year, which will begin on March 21, an official with the Ministry of Education has said.

Supported by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology, the first phase of the initiative was launched in June 2025.

Since then, two million students have joined the program to master AI from introductory courses to programming, ISNA quoted Seyyed Ali Hosseini as saying.

Moreover, more than one thousand teachers are learning AI, attending both online and virtual training sessions. In the next four months, the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with Sharif University of Technology, will train 200,000 teachers, Hosseini noted.

Currently, some 16 million students are studying in the country. Throughout the seventh National Development Plan (2023-2027), the Ministry of Education has to complete teaching AI to two million students. These include elementary, junior high school, and senior high school students. However, 80 percent of the current students learning AI are from junior high schools, he added.

To motivate students and teachers, a variety of incentives are considered. The Iran Digital platform is game-based and interactive, and the incentives include holding seasonal competitions, ranking top individuals in different geographical areas, and awarding prizes. The top individuals will also have the chance to participate in advanced courses.

The official went on to say that the Ministry of Education is pursuing two main goals in the education sector. The first focuses on teaching AI to students and teachers, and the second one will equip schools with the latest digital devices.

According to Abdolhossein Bahrami, an official with the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy, boosting digital literacy will prepare students for future job markets, help them develop their critical thinking, and become familiar with emerging technologies; it will also foster creativity and innovation among students.

In Iran, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and learning was examined during a national conference held in Tehran on October 9, 2024.

The use of AI-driven technologies in education and learning as a transformative element has not only helped to promote the quality and efficiency of the educational process but has also provided different individuals with cutting-edge technologies and smart solutions, ISNA reported.

By precisely analyzing educational data and providing instant feedback, it has improved students’ assessment and educational content production.

It also focused on three major axes: recognizing challenges and capabilities; establishing a dynamic and collaborative environment, as well as discovering assessment and evaluation methods based on emerging technologies.

It focused on topics like AI and medical education, cognitive Sciences, schools, design and content production, human resources development, educational assessment and evaluation, AI in the future of education, and ethical considerations, as well as artificial intelligence and schools.

The main objective of the conference was to raise awareness of modern technologies and their applications in education and learning systems.

MT/MG