Microsoft and the Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate AI with the national school curriculum starting grade 8, thereby equipping students with essential skills for the future.

Puneet Chandok, Microsoft’s President of India and South Asia, made his inaugural visit to Sri Lanka. He met with Sri Lankan Hon. President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Hon. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to discuss the company’s commitment to partner with the country on its digital transformation journey.

“It was truly inspiring to witness the steps Sri Lanka is taking to ensure inclusivity in innovation. As AI continues to be the defining technology of our time, Microsoft is committed to being Sri Lanka’s copilot for economic and societal transformation,” Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, said in a press release.

Earlier this year, Microsoft revealed its plans to expand the reach of Microsoft Research India’s initiative, the AI copilot, Shiksha CoPilot, to 100 schools by the end of the academic year.

The tech giant announced Shiksha CoPilot in November last year and was being tested in 10 schools in Bengaluru, India.

Shiksha copilot was built on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and harnessed Azure Cognitive Services to ingest the content in textbooks, including how the content is organised.

The project, implemented in collaboration with the Sikshana Foundation, an NGO dedicated to enhancing the quality of public education, has been initially deployed at several public schools in Karnataka.