– Amit Baveja, Managing Director, Burlington English India & Southeast Asia

A student today can ask a question in the classroom and receive an answer within seconds. A teacher can use technology to create a lesson plan, develop learning resources or find new ways to explain a concept. Artificial intelligence is making many of these possibilities increasingly accessible and, in doing so, is beginning to change the way learning takes place. But access to more information does not necessarily mean deeper learning. As AI becomes part of the classroom, the role of the teacher becomes more important, not less. Technology can generate content, suggest activities and provide information, but it cannot easily understand why one student is struggling while another is ready to move ahead, or when a particular explanation will make a concept click for a learner.

This is where the real question around AI in education begins. It is not simply about whether teachers know how to use new tools, but whether they have the knowledge, judgement and pedagogical understanding to use them meaningfully. When information can be generated in seconds, the value of education needs to be rethought and reevaluated. The challenge is helping learners understand, evaluate and apply what they encounter. That requires judgement, context and an understanding of how individual students respond. The question before us is therefore not whether AI will become part of the classroom, but whether teachers are prepared to use it thoughtfully.

Beyond knowing how to use AI

AI adoption among teachers is already significant. A 2025 Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA) survey of more than 5,000 teachers and education stakeholders found that over 70 percent of Indian teachers were using AI tools, while nearly 60 percent were using them for lesson planning. These figures indicate that teachers are already exploring the technology. But the more important question is what happens after the tool produces an answer. Can a teacher assess whether the information is reliable and appropriate for the age and learning level of students? Can they recognise when an AI-generated resource needs to be adapted? And can they help students question what AI produces rather than accept it automatically?

AI readiness therefore needs to go beyond technological familiarity. It requires professional judgement, ethical awareness and pedagogical understanding. UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Teachers identifies 15 competencies across five dimensions, including human-centred thinking, ethics of AI, AI foundations and applications, AI pedagogy and AI for professional learning. Being AI-ready means knowing not only what a technology can do, but when, where and why it belongs in the learning process. Teachers need to be equipped to make informed decisions about how AI can support learning while ensuring that technology remains aligned with educational objectives and the needs of individual students.

Professional learning must keep pace

This makes continuous professional development increasingly important. India’s National Education Policy 2020 calls for each teacher to participate in at least 50 hours of Continuous Professional Development every year. School leaders are expected to undertake 50 hours of CPD as well, to acquaint themselves with the latest pedagogies and teaching practices. The number is important, but the quality of those learning opportunities matters just as much. Professional development cannot simply introduce teachers to new tools or ideas. It needs to connect those ideas with classroom practice and help educators understand how they can be applied effectively in different learning situations.

A teacher may know how to use an AI application, for instance, but that does not necessarily mean they know how it can support a particular lesson, encourage discussion or help a student who needs additional support. Teacher development therefore needs to be practical, participatory and continuous. At Burlington English, our professional development programmes are designed around this principle, giving educators opportunities to experience and apply teaching approaches rather than simply learn about them. This approach can help teachers build the confidence and practical understanding needed to integrate new technologies into their classrooms meaningfully.

Taking professional development beyond metros

There is another consideration: access. Teachers outside major metropolitan centres can face practical barriers to professional learning, including travel, time and limited availability of opportunities. If we expect educators across India to keep pace with a rapidly changing classroom, professional development must reach them where they are. This is one of the challenges that the Burlington English 100ED Fest seeks to address. The initiative aims to empower more than 100,000 educators across 100+ cities each year. It brings professional development closer to teachers through in-person, expert-led workshops, with master trainers introducing research-driven and technology-enhanced pedagogical approaches. The emphasis is on participation. Teachers engage with ideas, see approaches being modelled and consider how they might translate into their own classrooms. This matters because effective professional learning should not end when a workshop does. It should give teachers something they can take back to their students and apply in their everyday teaching.

Learning from teachers

There is also value in listening to teachers as professional learners. Classrooms rarely behave exactly as expected. Teachers understand the questions students ask, the points at which they lose interest and the challenges that can make an apparently useful tool difficult to apply. Their experience should therefore inform how professional development evolves. At Burlington English, feedback from webinars and teacher-training sessions is used to understand classroom realities and refine future workshops and learning experiences. This becomes even more important with AI, where new tools are appearing faster than most training systems can respond. Listening to teachers can also help ensure that professional development remains grounded in real classroom needs. Rather than treating educators simply as recipients of new technologies and teaching methods, professional learning should recognise them as active contributors whose experience can help shape how these approaches are introduced and improved.

Preparing for what comes next

AI may reduce some routine tasks and create new possibilities for feedback, personalised learning and classroom interaction. But the success of an AI-enabled classroom will not be measured by the amount of technology it contains. It will be measured by what technology enables teachers and students to do better. Does it create more time for meaningful interaction? Does it encourage students to think critically? Does it support communication, creativity and independent learning? Does it allow teachers to understand their learners better? These are ultimately questions of pedagogy, not technology. As the classroom changes, perhaps one of the most important priorities is to ensure teachers have the knowledge, confidence and professional support to change with it. Preparing students for an AI-enabled future requires us to prepare their teachers for it first.

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