From Takshashila to the age of ChatGPT — Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis drew that sweeping arc on Saturday, 24 October 2026, at the Valedictory Function of the 9th International Principals' Educational Conference (IPEC 2026) in Nagpur, urging school leaders to treat Artificial Intelligence not as a disruptor but as a responsibility.

Addressing the gathering, Fadnavis called today's students a 'Generation Wow' — a cohort with the entire world's information at their fingertips. The challenge, he argued, is the next step: turning raw information into genuine knowledge and wisdom. 'Information must translate into knowledge and wisdom through critical thinking, sound judgement and ethical values,' he said, framing the educator's job as more consequential than ever precisely because the tool is so powerful.

Why AI Makes the Teacher's Job Harder, Not Redundant

Fadnavis was direct about the AI moment: technology must be 'understood and used responsibly, with human sensitivity and ethical judgement guiding its application.' That framing deliberately sidesteps the binary debate of AI-as-threat versus AI-as-saviour. The argument is subtler — when any student can summon a credible-sounding answer in seconds, the premium shifts entirely to the human who can interrogate that answer.

Principals and teachers, he said, are the architects of that interrogative instinct. IPEC, which convenes school leaders from across the country and internationally, was described as an 'important platform to deliberate on the evolving needs of education and the holistic development of students' — high praise that also signals the Maharashtra government's intent to operationalise conference outcomes.

Nalanda to NEP: The Lineage Fadnavis Invoked

The CM anchored his remarks in a sweep of history, citing ancient centres of learning — Takshashila, Nalanda, and Vikramashila — as proof that India's educational instinct has always prioritised dialogue, critical inquiry, and the pursuit of wisdom over rote accumulation. These institutions, he argued, set a template that remains strikingly relevant to the demands of the digital era.

He linked that legacy directly to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which was approved by the Union Cabinet to replace the 1986 policy. NEP 2020 mandates mother-tongue instruction at early stages and formally integrates indigenous knowledge systems alongside preparation for digital-era skills — including AI. Fadnavis cast the NEP not as a bureaucratic overhaul but as a civilisational continuity, a policy that reconnects modern schooling to roots stretching back millennia.

Maharashtra's Commitment: Turning Deliberations Into Policy

The CM closed with a pledge that moved the event beyond ceremony: 'Our government will work positively on the expectations and suggestions that emerged during the deliberations in this conference.' That sentence is the one to watch. Maharashtra implementing conference suggestions — whether as updates to teacher-training modules, AI-ethics curricula, or mother-tongue pedagogy pilots — would mark a concrete state-level translation of national NEP directives.

Among those present at the valedictory were MoS Dr. Pankaj Bhoyar, former MP and actor Dr. Nitish Bharadwaj, IPEC Convener Dr. Mrunalini Dasture, IIM Nagpur Director Dr. Bhimaraya Metri, and The South Public School Director Deaven Dasture. Educators honoured at the event received formal congratulations from the Chief Minister.

A generation with the world's knowledge at its fingertips still needs someone to teach it how to think — and Nagpur just heard the state's top executive say that is now official Maharashtra policy.