This State Launches Virtual School TV Channel For Educating Kids With No Internet

The state of Kerala has been quite tactical in their handling of the pandemic, amid the lockdown and the overall crisis in the country. 

Now adding to the trend, the state is making sure that even children who don’t have access to the internet or smartphones get proper education.

As per the reports, the State Education Department of Kerala started online sessions named ‘First Bell’. 

How Did This Happen?

Basically, these will be available online, but it will also be telecast through VICTERS TV Channel for classes 1 to 12 from 8.30 AM to 5.30 PM on weekdays. 

Further, this channel is available for free on cable networks, over the internet and direct-to-home all across the state. 

A spell of rain drenched #Kerala on June 1 morning as is customary, but with schools remaining closed, children stayed indoors, taking online classes instead. Some schools chose to kickstart the proceedings with a briefing on #COVID19 pandemic& the ways to protect oneself from it pic.twitter.com/oWVfjpDE6r

— S Anandan (@Anandans76) June 1, 2020

Before this, a study conducted on students in the state’s government schools, it was noticed that more than 2.6 lakh students had no facilities for online classes. 

That is why, Kerala’s CM announced that Neighbourhood Study Centres will be set up for students who do not even have access to a television, let alone smartphone or internet. 

Yes that's right: it is now being used by the Kerala Govt to provide instruction for the two & a half lakh children who cannot attend classes online, as they are now required to. But I worry about a digital divide in our schools; learning on TV offers a different experience. https://t.co/5QR4BXLtkw

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 2, 2020

He also mentioned that these centres will be provided with TVs at a subsidised cost. 

How Does It Work?

Basically, they will be setting up a space like a classroom and be provided with a TV to air VICTERS channel and accommodate students while following social distancing norms.

“We have entrusted the class teachers and school headmasters or principals to make sure that students have access to a television or a smartphone or a computer, and Internet for the classes. If not, they should find an alternative for the students to attend the online classes either in real-time or later” Director of Public Instruction (DPI) K Jeevan Babu mentioned.

First Bell ?
Even though it's not ringing over around two lakh students from Kerala, it's going to be a novel experience for both students and teachers. #Education#Kerala#KeralaModel pic.twitter.com/4R1gFZTmz4

— Shilpa Sankar P (@ShilpaSankarP1) May 31, 2020

Further, the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has set up time tables for these classes. 

Moreover, the sessions are to be held from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm from Monday to Friday for all classes from 1 to 12, except class 11, on the channel.  

Apart from that, 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.

At least 1.2 lakh laptops, over 7,000 projectors and nearly 4,545 televisions have already been readied for the students for the first week.

On Monday, around 45 lakh students in Kerala began attending these virtual classes.