In the upcoming academic year, state-run schools in Kerala are set to undergo a digital transformation, introducing digital learning from the first standard. The Education Department plans to implement Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-assisted education across 9279 schools, covering classes 1 to 7 in the state. This initiative, managed through the IT@School Project, a state government endeavor for IT education, is scheduled to commence from June 1, 2017.
Kerala, already recognized as a pioneer in ICT-enabled education, initiated IT education under the IT@School Project for High School classes (standards 8 to 10) back in 2005. The current expansion extends ICT-enabled education to both Lower Primary and Upper Primary sections, ensuring comprehensive coverage from standard one to 12. The Education Minister, C Raveendranath, announced the launch of e@Vidhya, a new ICT textbook for standards 5 to 7, and an Operating System & Resource DVD for primary schools, developed by IT@School.
The scaling up of ICT-enabled education in upper primary classrooms is a significant step aligned with the government’s General Education Rejuvenation Mission, according to Raveendranath. A detailed ICT school survey for lower primary and upper primary classes is set to commence in June, with the Detailed Project Report scheduled for preparation by IT@School in July. Computer labs and smart classrooms will be established in all lower primary and upper primary schools.
K Anvar Sadath, the executive director of IT@School project, mentioned that specific ICT training has been provided to 70,602 lower primary and upper primary teachers in the state. BSNL has been engaged to provide broadband connectivity to all schools, with 97 percent of lower primary and upper primary schools already fully covered. The ICT-enabled education initiative, which started in high school in 2009, is now being expanded to the lower primary and upper primary sections in 2017, following extensive preparations including content development, teacher training, and operating system implementation.
The new ICT textbook, ‘e@Vidhya,’ is created entirely using free and open-source software and is available in Malayalam, English, Tamil, and Kannada languages. Each school will receive a DVD containing software packages to facilitate learning of the ICT-enabled content in the textbook.
