The selection exam for the government's artificial intelligence (AI) training programme was held today (Saturday) simultaneously at designated centres in all 64 districts of the country. The written test was organised under the project titled 'Skill Development of ICT-Literate Youth Through Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology', implemented by the Department of Youth Development under the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Under the project, initiatives have been taken to provide AI training in all 64 districts.

Project sources said a total of 1,03,996 applications were submitted for AI training across the country. After initial scrutiny, 1,02,928 applications were accepted. Trainees are being selected from among the applicants through the written exam.

In the second phase of the project, a total of 1,600 trainees are set to be selected — 25 from each of the 64 districts. Given the number of applicants, more than 64 candidates are competing on average for every seat. Competition is the toughest in the capital Dhaka, where 17,552 people applied for the 25 seats of Dhaka district.

During the exam, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Md Mahbub-Ul-Alam, Director General of the Department of Youth Development Md Motahar Hossain, Project Director Md Atiqur Rahman and Deputy Director of Dhaka district A K M Shahriar visited a test centre in Kallyanpur in the capital. After the visit, Md Mahbub-Ul-Alam said candidates who pass the written exam will sit for practical and oral tests on 27 September. The final results will be published on 30 September, and training for the selected 1,600 trainees will begin across the country from 1 October.

Md Motahar Hossain said under this two-year project, a total of 11,200 young men and women will be trained in AI technology — 9,600 at the basic level and 1,600 at the advanced level. He said training will be conducted in 448 batches of 25 trainees each. Each training course will last two months, with 50 classes totalling 300 hours of lessons.