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Einstein Class 17: Student Mentors Bring AI Lessons to Five Regions

January 2026 · Partnerships · With Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)

In January 2026, 25 university student mentors spent two weeks teaching AI and literacy classes to 173 young people living near nuclear power plants in Korea.

From 19 to 30 January 2026, 25 university student mentors ran AI lectures and literacy mentoring classes for 173 young people in five areas near nuclear power plants in Korea: Kori, Hanbit, Wolsong, Hanul and Saeul. This was the 17th edition of Einstein Class, a university student mentoring program hosted by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and organized by Better World.

The mentors, selected at a ratio of 23 applicants to one place, prepared at a three-day training from 7 to 9 January at the Seoul YMCA Goyang International Youth Culture Center. They previewed the AI lessons they would teach, planned their literacy classes and designed creative convergence programs in teams. Former mentors came to share their experience. "More important than a perfect class," one of them said, "is leaving the children with even one small thing."

Seen from behind, a child types on a laptop showing a cartoon penguin image in a web application; other laptops are open along the row of seats.
A participant works on an AI project during the two-week program.

In the field, mentors arrived a day early to check supplies and set up laptops. Over the two weeks, according to Better World's report, classes included hands-on practice with generative AI tools, writing web novels and future diaries, the basics of Python and coding, building AI programs with the Entry platform, prompt design, career portfolios and making a personal AI assistant. Mentors planned and prepared the literacy and creative convergence classes themselves.

On the last day, the young participants presented the AI projects they had completed at an AI competition, and prizes were given to the leading teams. The program closed with a results-sharing session for the 17th edition.

A large group of children and mentors pose on an auditorium stage under a screen reading 'Einstein Class 17, AI lectures and mentoring' in Korean, with balloons in front.
Mentors and mentees at one of the five sites, January 2026.

Einstein Class began in 2010 with 43 university student mentors, according to a January 2025 report by the Korean news outlet Nocut News. The 16th edition, held for three weeks from 6 January 2025 with 50 mentors, centred on school subjects such as Korean, English and mathematics. The 17th edition ran for two weeks and centred on AI and literacy.

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