Since most students of Kerala don’t have access to the internet and are unable to get proper education, the State Education Department has started online sessions named ‘First Bell’. According to PTI, the sessions will be available online and will also be telecast through a school TV channel – VICTERS.

This channel is available for free on cable networks and also over the internet. The classes will be available for classes 1 to 12 from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on weekdays.

A study conducted on students of the state government schools found that more than 2.6 lakh students had no facilities for online classes. In order to give every child equal access to education, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that neighbourhood study centres will be set up for students, who do not even have access to a television and the internet.

He further added that these centers will be provided with TVs at a subsidized cost and will be set up like classrooms. The TVs will be provided to air the Kerala VICTERS TV channel and accommodate students while following social distancing norms.

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

Director of Public Instruction (DPI) K Jeevan Babu said, “We have entrusted the class teachers and school headmasters or principals to make sure that students have access to a television or a smart phone 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.”

The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has set up time tables for the classes through VICTERS TV channel. Besides, for the first week at least 1.2 lakh laptops, over 7,000 projectors and nearly 4,545 televisions have already been readied for the students. Around 45 lakh students in Kerala began attending these virtual classes on Monday.

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

Source: www.iforher.com

Also read: Kerala kickstarts new academic year for schools with online classes