The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), through its Hi-Tech programme, has decided to train mothers of students in technology with the high-tech facilities set up in schools as part of the government’s Public Education Rejuvenation Mission.
The project will start next month. One of the main objectives is to ensure the better use of smartphones at home, for example, to encourage students to use educational apps and websites.
Necessary applications will be deployed in advance for the smartphones owned by parents, the head of KITE said.
During the training programmes, the parents will be introduced to more resources in the textbooks by scanning QR codes, familiarised with the new classroom learning process, and learn how to use KITE’s Samagra resource portal.
Samagra is an online learning platform. To supplement the Hi-Tech project, the schools need to have the right content, adequate ICT equipment, and trained teachers.
It is a repository of digital resources of all subjects from grades 1 to 12. The software acts as a resource that covers syllabus-based teaching resources for schools all over Kerala. Teachers contribute various learning resources like videos and photographs.
KITE will also facilitate the publishing of school details in the form of QR codes for the general public.
When users scan the QR codes in the textbooks, they will be able to access the Sametham portal and School Wiki portal that facilitates a culture of collaborative learning among students.
Sametham was launched to share the authentic data of academic and infrastructural details of government-aided and recognised unaided schools in Kerala.
Earlier this month, KITE equipped 9,941 lower primary and upper primary schools with hi-tech labs under the Hi-Tech programme.
As OpenGov reported, the project was inaugurated in July and by August already over 80% of it had been completed. KITE has made arrangements to supply the equipment to the remaining schools by the end of this month.
This initiative is a continuation of the Hi-Tech school programme, through which 45,000 classrooms (grades 8 to 12) were made hi-tech, under the Public Education Rejuvenation Mission of the State government.
55,086 laptops and USB speakers along with 23,170 multimedia projectors plan to be deployed at the primary schools in the first phase. By August-end, KITE had distributed 37,842 laptops, 32,225 USB speakers, and 13,513 projectors.
The equipment provided as part of the project carries a five-year comprehensive onsite warranty and insurance coverage.
KITE has also set-up a call centre and web portal for complaint management. The suppliers are liable to pay a penalty if the issues reported from schools are not resolved within the stipulated time frame.
KITE is the first SPV (special purpose vehicle) of the state’s Education Department. An infrastructure division has also been set-up under KITE for upgrading the infrastructural facilities in schools.
The spectrum of KITE includes ICT, capacity building, content development, connectivity, e-learning, satellite-based education, support and maintenance mechanism, e-governance or other related activities.