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Advisers to the Prime Minister’s Office Mahdi Amin, Rehan Asif Asad and Shikho founder and chief executive officer Shahir Chowdhury, among others, are present at a panel held during the launch of Shikho’s literacy course ‘Think AI’ recently. | Press release

Shikho has recently launched ‘Think AI,’ a free Bangla-language course designed to give students, teachers and workers basic knowledge on artificial intelligence, said a press release.

The course, developed in collaboration with LightCastle Partners and supported by Meta, is delivered on Shikho’s learning platform in four lessons covering AI fundamentals, mechanics of generative tools, ethics of responsible use and concrete upskilling pathways.

It requires no technical background and is aimed at secondary and university students, educators, freelancers and young professionals across Bangladesh.

Discussions at the event centered on three objectives: distributing the course through Bangladesh’s existing educational infrastructure, opening cross-sector dialogue on AI literacy and digital skills, and establishing a replicable model for public-private collaboration in digital skilling.

In his keynote address, Shahir Chowdhury, founder and chief executive officer of Shikho, framed AI as a civilisational shift and a defining opportunity for Bangladesh.

Mahdi Amin, adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office (education), said that the government was moving to digitise the country’s curriculum and standardise the quality of teaching across geographies, with AI as a core enabler.

‘We are going to convert our curriculum to a digital curriculum. The finest teachers in Dhaka, the content they get access to, will have the same content in the remote villages,’ he said, adding, ‘For our digital classroom and One Teacher One Tab programmes, AI will play an instrumental role.’

Rehan Asif Asad, adviser to the PMO (ICT), said that the government’s first priority was laying the connectivity and data infrastructure that will allow AI to work at national scale.

‘If I don’t have connectivity, I have nothing. For AI to work, it is absolutely critical to have the data,’ he said, adding, ‘With that infrastructure in place, for the first time, the barrier is almost blurring between Rangpur and Palo Alto.’

The panel discussion, which brought together the senior government advisers and Meta’s regional public policy leadership, was moderated by Bijon Islam, chief executive officer of LightCastle Partners.

Bijon Islam framed AI as a potential equalizer between Bangladesh and the developed world. ‘We’re very excited that this will come in as an equaliser,’ he said, adding, ‘The difference between someone staying in the US and someone staying in Bangladesh won’t be as big as it was before.’

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