New Delhi: Only 13 percent schools in India have achieved advanced, system-wide integration of artificial intelligence and 91 percent teachers believe it is necessary for schools to establish clear parameters defining boundaries for use of AI by students in academic work, according to a new report by QS I-GAUGE.

QS I-GAUGE is an independent education-rating system that brings together the global experience and expertise of London-based QS Quacquarelli Symonds and the knowledge of Indian educational luminaries.

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According to another QS I-GAUGE report on AI adoption in higher education, four in five faculty members say their institutions are ready but 78 percent fear overuse will weaken students' independent thinking and problem-solving.

The voluntary surveys drew responses from 1,209 teachers from 71 K-12 institutions across 21 states and Union Territories, and 1,118 faculty responses from 146 higher education institutions across 27 states and UTs.

Together, the reports examine institutional readiness, teacher capacity, governance, classroom use and concerns about integrity, privacy and excessive dependence on automation.

"Among schoolteachers, 88 percent said their leadership regarded AI as vital to future-ready education and 86 percent said their schools were prepared to offer structured professional development.

"Yet institutional readiness remained uneven: 25 percent each were at the structured-implementation and exploration stages, 15 percent at awareness, 14 percent at partial implementation, 5 percent at pilot stage and 3 percent reported no readiness," the school education report said.

While 91 percent school teachers wanted defined boundaries for student use, faculty-use protocols, cyber safety and academic-integrity frameworks were among the top identified priorities. Parents' leading concerns, as reported by teachers, were data privacy and cognitive dependence, both at 77 percent, followed by increased screen time at 76 percent.

"Assessment of institutional readiness reveals a fragmented landscape with only 25 percent schools having initiated structured AI implementation, 25 percent remaining in an exploratory phase and only 13 percent achieving advanced system wide-integration," the report said.

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In colleges and universities, 83 percent of faculty said AI could make administrative work more efficient and 76 percent expected it to improve academic performance.

"Seventy-eight of the faculty are concerned that relying too heavily on AI tools will reduce students' independent thinking and problem-solving skills. Seventy-six percent of the faculty believe that using AI will boost students' overall academic performance and create a more productive learning experience.

"To successfully adopt AI, the top two institutional resources requested by faculty are hands-on training workshops (cited by 71 percent of respondents) and access to premium, enterprise-level AI tools (cited by 61 percent). When asked about their student-focused concerns regarding AI, the two issues most frequently selected by faculty were academic dishonesty (72 percent) and students becoming excessively dependent on AI to complete their work (63 percent)," the higher education report said.

According to QS India chair Ashwin Fernandes, the goal should be "not simply greater AI adoption, but responsible AI capability", combining innovation with inclusion, academic integrity and human judgement.

"India's emerging AI vision reflects a broader ambition to become not simply a consumer of AI, but a creator of technology, talent and solutions that can contribute globally. The goal should not simply be greater AI adoption, but responsible AI capability. The institutions that lead will be those that combine innovation with inclusion, academic integrity and human judgement," said Dr Ashwin Fernandes, chair, QS India, and vice president, Strategic and International Engagement, QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

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