Thiruvananthapuram: A total of 41 lakh students in about 12,000 schools in the state switched to the virtual system of education as the new academic year began Monday amid COVID-19 induced lockdown.
The special sessions, termed First Bell, will be made available for class I to XII (except XI) via the KITE Victers education channel run by the government and internet. The sessions will begin at 8.30am. Sessions will be held on a trial basis this week.
One session of 30 minutes each will be held for classes I to VII daily (one subject per day). One-hour sessions for classes VIII and XI (two sessions each of 30 minutes). Class X will have 1.5 hours of class in three sessions and class XII will have four 2 hours of class in four sessions.
Sessions will be re-telecast for those who missed out on the classes.
Apart from television, the sessions will be available on the portal (www.victers.kite.kerala.gov.in) and Facebook (facebook.com/Victerseduchannel). After telecast, the sessions will be available on YouTube (youtube.com/itsvicters).
Head teachers, PTI local bodies and Kudumbashree units have to help out if students face any trouble in accessing these virtual classes.
The modules for different classes will be prepared by agencies under the General Education Department such as the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), KITE, Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK), and the State Institute of Educational Technology.
KITE informed that for the first week at least 1.2 lakh laptops, over 7,000 projectors and nearly 4,545 televisions have been readied for the students.
Challenges
• However, the new virtual system has caused apprehension among 2.5 lakh students, who do not have access to television, phone or internet. Other arrangements will have to be made for them at a local level. The education department also said that arrangements should be made to present the sessions using laptops or projectors at nearby schools for those students in remote areas. KITE CEO K Anvar Sadath said that permission would be granted to take laptops and projectors to areas where television and other facilities are not available.
• Also, when this many number of students use the internet at once, the speed might be affected. Plus, the internet services can be disrupted.
• If there is more than one student at a home, then that many gadgets will be needed. This will add to the financial burden of the family.
• With a steep rise in demand for broadband connections, shortage of devices such as modem were reported. Requests are piling up. Complaints have also been raised that modems were sold at higher rates.
Teachers to interact with students
Teachers should contact students before and after the sessions via social media platforms or over the phone to encourage them to attend the sessions and clarify any doubts. Head teachers will have to ensure this. Special work sheets will have to be prepared for classes I to VII.
Books for all the classes are available on www.samagra.kite.kerala.gov.in. Parents can purchase the books as and when these are delivered to the schools.
KITE Victers channel number
Asianet Digital - 411
Den Network - 639
Kerala Vision - 42
Digi Media - 149
City Channel - 116
Videocon - 642
Dish TV - 642
