Meet Mongolia’s First 500 AI Teachers: Mongolia’s Bold Move on AI Education

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | August 27, 2025

A groundbreaking initiative brings world-class AI education to Mongolia's most remote communities, addressing the prevalent rural-urban education gap and digital divide.

On a crisp August morning in the heart of Ulaanbaatar, 500 educators from across Mongolia gathered to celebrate a milestone that signaled a systemic educational reform beyond the nation. These weren't ordinary educators — they were the very first graduating cohort of the National AI Campaign, an intensive four-month program designed to democratize AI education in one of the world's most sparsely populated nations that is often overlooked in global technological conversations, and not immune to rural-urban digital divide.

The graduation ceremony took place on August 22-23, 2025, marking the end of an intensive training program that brought together teachers from 21 provinces, 330 villages, and 9 districts of Mongolia. Selected from over 1,420 applicants and now certified, these 500 teachers now carry the responsibility of introducing responsible AI education to over 10,000 students across the country's vast territory.

At the heart of this transformative initiative stands Bolor-Erdene, a former Vice Minister of Digital Development, founder of AI Academy Asia, and architect of the National AI Campaign. Her personal journey from a rural Mongolian village to becoming a technology entrepreneur brought about the ambitious campaign. "Coming from a rural area myself, I always believed that education was what made me achieve many of my dreams," Bolor-Erdene reflected during the graduation ceremony. "Then, I've come to believe that technology and AI education is the bridge that can help young people from disadvantaged communities reach their dreams."

The program's success emanates from its robust collaborative foundation. The initiative received crucial support from UNICEF Mongolia and M Bank, demonstrating that countries can expedite initiatives by leaning on private-public partnerships. Developed in partnership with professors from Cambridge University, the curriculum was crafted to be accessible to educators coming from diverse backgrounds, recognizing that many rural teachers might lack technical programming knowledge but possess invaluable teaching experience and local insights.

Many teachers, like P. Solongo from Khanbogd Sum's General Education School No. 1 in Ömnögovi Province, initially worried about their lack of programming background: "The instructors explained the content in very simple terms, so I was able to continue learning technical concepts without giving up and successfully completed the program," Solongo shared. B. Batdulam, a mathematics and information technology teacher, found the program particularly valuable for professional development: "The program included fundamental AI concepts that teachers should know. By the end of the program, I had learned so much. As a professional teacher, I was able to enhance my capabilities. It was a truly effective program."

The program's impact became evident during the two-day graduation ceremony, where the 500 teachers, organized into 16 teams, presented innovative capstone projects. The projects boasted remarkable creativity, ranging from disaster preparedness training site, free AI-powered IELTS speaking preparation website to classroom management AI assistant.

The program’s success invited institutional support as Education Minister P. Naranbayar announced during the ceremony that the AI teacher training program would become a modular training program, where teachers can receive credit hours for participation. The program is one of the most ambitious AI education initiatives ever attempted globally, positioning Mongolia at the forefront of efforts to integrate AI into formal education.

The National AI Campaign represents just the beginning of an ambitious long-term strategy. Organizers have set a goal to train 2,250 teachers over the next five years, with the current cohort of 500 graduates expected to reach approximately 10,000 students nationwide initially. The campaign also connects to broader initiatives, including expanding the "Girls Code” Program to include boys from underserved communities, demonstrating commitment to gender equality and reducing educational disparities through teacher preparation in digital pedagogical competence.

"This is only the beginning," founder Bolor-Erdene emphasized at the ceremony's conclusion. "I believe that with more projects like this, even if small at first, Mongolian youth equipped with technology and AI skills will shine on the global stage."

By investing in teacher training and emphasizing practical application, Mongolia's National AI Campaign provides a compelling model for a national digital transformation strategy powered from the grassroots up. As these 500 teachers return to their schools across Mongolia’s vast landscape, they do so as catalysts of change and carriers of hope, ready to ensure that Mongolian students won’t just witness the AI revolution, but help lead it.

By Temuulen Munguu