With academic institutions still under lockdown, the Kerala Government’s KITE (Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education) has begun classes through the Victers channel. The virtual classes are scheduled from 8.30am to 5.30 pm from Monday to Friday. The academic year 2020-21 kick started in this rather unconventional manner. The Victers Channel is the first edutainment channel in Malayalam.
KITE Victers Channel
The Victers (Versatile ICT Enabled Resource for Students) Channel is controlled by the State General Education Department. The channel aims to keep students engaged and ready for a delayed year of school. The classes are held in accordance to the modules by the State Council of Educational Research and Trainings (SCERT), KITE, Samaghra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) and the State Institute of Educational Technology. The Government has made it available through the cable network. The classes’ videos can be viewed on its YouTube channel after it has been broadcasted live on the website. The classes will also be available live on the Victer’s Facebook page as well. The programme ‘First Bell’ has classes for standards 1 to 12, except for Class 11. The day-wise class schedules can be viewed on the website by students beforehand.
The Government has made efforts to reach out to students in every nook and cranny of the state and make sure they are having access to the resources made available. There have also been reports that the government will soon launch classes in the tribal dialects to help tribal children. This shows that the government is taking many measures to ensure that the academic year does not come to a complete standstill.
More about KITE
KITE was formed in 2001-02, its primary objective was to induce ICT enabled educations in around 15000 schools in the State. It made its first break through when it became mandatory for the 10th grade to study Information Technology in 2005. The Victers Channel was also set up in 2005, it is also worth noting that Victers is the first Complete Educational Channel in the Country. An interesting highlight associated with KITE was the ‘Little KITEs IT Clubs’ programme under which there were over a hundred thousand students being provided specialized trainings in 5 different areas such as Animation, Cyber Safety, Hardware, Artificial Intelligence, Malayalam computing, Robotics etc
Difficulties Faced in this New Form of Learning
The online method of learning has brought along its own set of difficulties, most of which comes to surround any newly implemented project. The lack of resources at home to let students access the Victers Channel, network connectivity problems, students who are unable to comprehend teaching through screens, the lack of interactivity while using the channel etc are all problems faced by the students. Regardless of the negatives, it is important to understand that there is a huge effort being made to make sure this service reaches as many children in the State as possible. It is also the first time the channel is set to function in full swing!
